Even the best kept secrets don't stay hidden
by Devil-may-care101
Summary: Lindsay finds out about a sister she never knew she had...only to find out that her sister is danger from the one who forced her into hiding. With time running out, can she save the girl who could potentially tear her whole family apart? R'n'r
1. Chapter 1

_Another idea that popped into my head - recently edited due to other circumstances - no infringement intended_

_Disclaimer - I own nothing_

_Enjoy!!_

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"So what did he say when he saw what had happened to his tie?" Lindsay sat back in her chair, arching her back, trying to work the muscles that seemed to have frozen.

Danny laughed out loud, the image of Flack and his ruined tie coming unbidden to his mind. "He almost went ape shit on the guy. I think it took two of our guys to keep him back." He was referring to the incident earlier that day, during which Danny and Flack had been chasing a suspect down one of the streets. The guy had skidded round one of the corners, managing to keep his balance on the recently rain-slicked floor, but Flack hadn't been so lucky - he'd slipped in a puddle and had ended up crashing into a recently painted shop window - leaving his tie ruined.

As both Danny and Lindsay sank into fits of giggles, the man himself turned up, tie-less, for probably the first time in his life. He did not look happy. As he walked past, he saw the two occupants trying to smother their giggles, and he paused, scowling through the glass. That just made it worse. Sighing he entered the room, knowing that he'd have to endure the comments at some point.

"You alright Flack? You look different." Lindsay said, still giggling.

"Shut it, Monroe. How'd you know anyway? Or is that a daft question?" He asked as he glared at his best friend, who was trying his hardest to keep an innocent look on his face and failing. "I happened to really like that tie."

"Flack, please, it was hideous. Besides weren't you moaning last week about needed a new one? Now you have an excuse to buy one."

"Well, he doesn't have to buy a new one, I think the paint did the job for him and created a whole new look." Danny cracked up as he pictured the once purple tie spotted with yellow paint.

Glaring at the two perpetrators, both of whom were laughing hysterically, Flack scowled. "Right, now you're in for in Messer." He leapt at Danny, knocking them both to the floor, which caused Lindsay to laugh even harder.

"Wow, didn't know you guys had it in you." All three occupants in the room looked up to see an amused Hawkes stood in the doorway. Flack sheepishly climbed off Danny, and Lindsay managed to get her laughter under control. Hawkes continued "Linds, Mac wants to see you in his office. Sounded mysterious."

"What? A break from paperwork? No fair! Why does he never call me into his office?" Danny exclaimed, whilst Lindsay got up from her no so comfy chair, sticking her tongue out at him in the process. Smoothing her clothes down, she asked "Is it to do with the Macmillan case?"

"I dunno, he wouldn't say. By the way Flack, sorry about the tie." Hawkes answered, also trying to contain his laughter (he didn't want to end up on the floor like Danny), and stepped back to let her through the door. Before walking off, she smirked through the glass once more, before walking down the corridor towards their boss' office.

After she'd gone, Hawkes went back to catch up on his own paperwork, and Flack had gone to find Stella about interrogating a suspect, whilst Danny found himself alone in his office once more. Once he'd finished, he sat back in his chair, groaning at the still huge pile of paperwork on his desk. "Its not fun when there's no distraction." he mused to himself, before picking up his pen and immersing himself in a case once more.

* * *

Lindsay knocked on the glass door to Mac's office, waiting until he beckoned her in before entering. Since he was on the phone, he indicated that she should sit and wait until he'd finished his call. She chose the comfy arm chair in front of his desk, and amused herself his one of the photos on his desk. It was of the whole team at Cosy's, the bar where Mac played the bass on Wednesday nights. Mac and Stella were in the middle, with Flack, Angell and Sid to their left, and with Hawkes, Adam, Danny and Lindsay to the right. It had been one of those moments where they'd all had the night off and were all in need of some cheering up, not that you could tell by the photo - all of them were smiling and laughing. It had turned out to be a great night.

She came back to earth as she heard Mac put the phone down and smiled at him, wondering what she was doing here.

"Hey Mac, Hawkes said you wanted to see me?"

Mac studied his youngest CSI. Recently she'd regained the sparkle in her eye that she'd lost after returning to Montana, and she was as determined and as ready as ever. Mac felt a certain protectiveness over her, like she was his daughter, and so hesitated before he spoke.

Lindsay, being as perceptive as she usually was, noticed this. "Mac, is everything ok?"

"Lindsay, the phone call I just had was from Bozeman PD."

Lindsay's body tensed, and every part of her body went onto alert mode. "Why, what happened?"

Again Mac hesitated. "Mac just tell me. Whats going on?" She couldn't hide the note of desperation and pleading in her voice.

"Lindsay have you spoken to your parents recently?"

Lindsay frowned at the sudden change of topic, until something clicked in her brain. "No not for a couple of weeks, why, are they ok? Did something happen to them?!"

Mac could see that she was getting agitated about her family's sense of wellbeing, so he was quick to reassure her. "No they're both fine."

"Then what is going on?" Mac could see the steel glint in her eye, like the one she had whenever she was questioning a suspect, and knew that she wouldn't give in until she got some answers, even if he didn't want to give them to her.

"The Detective I was speaking to told me that your parents have reported at least 3 break-ins in the last month alone, and yesterday, they found a note at the scene. A threatening note."

"What did it say?"

"I don't know the specifics, but all the detective told me is that whoever left the note knows all about them, and that soon they will get what is coming to them. Obviously, the Bozeman PD are taking this seriously, especially since both of your parents have reported that they feel they are being followed."

"Oh my god, why didn't they tell me?"

"We aren't entirely sure yet, but we do know that it isn't safe for your parents there at the moment. So, the PD out there recommended that they come here, to New York, to stay with you until the issue is resolved. They arrive tomorrow, as do your brother and sister, who have also been left threatening notes. They can either stay with you or can stay at a hotel, that is up to you."

Lindsay sank back in her chair, hands over her face as she tried to absorb the information she'd just been told. Mac watched her sadly - she'd already been through so much that she didn't need this. Especially as he had worse news yet to come.

"But why are they coming here? Surely it would make more sense to send them a bit closer to home. Don't get me wrong, its not that I don't want to see them but…why here? Why New York?"

Mac took a deep breath. "Lindsay, we figured it would be safer to keep the family together."

Lindsay narrowed her eyes as she heard her boss' voice catch. "Why? What aren't you telling me?"

Mac broke his eye contact briefly, staring at the photo on his desk, before returning his gaze to hers. "The note found at you're parents house didn't just indicate them. It indicated you as well."

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_Review make me happy, i'm a review junkie - please let me know what you think_


	2. Chapter 2

_Woop I'm on a role. Third update in one night. Doubt there'll be anymore but who knows?_

_Here is the next chapter of the story for y'all - i hope its up to your expectations. Please review and let me know!_

_Disclaimer: Own nothing. See everything else I've ever written and you'll get the gist_

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"What do you mean, indicated me?"

Mac sighed. "I'm not entirely sure yet, they refused to go into details on the phone. However, seeing as the whole family will be in New York, the have kindly agreed to send us the evidence so that we can have a look at it. It might make more sense."

Lindsay was hardly listening. She couldn't believe that her family was in danger, and yet she didn't even know why. And to top it off, her entire family would be coming to New York. It's not that she didn't love them, as she'd told Mac, but they could be quite overprotective people, and part of the reason she'd moved here in the first place was so that she could escape from the shielded world that her parents wanted her to live in. Plus, they didn't know about Danny yet.

She was brought back to earth by Mac calling her name. "Lindsay?" She looked up at him, the fear and frustration clear in her eyes. Mac knew something about why she remained distant with her parents sometimes, but he knew that to have the whole family together would be the safest option, especially seeing as they could keep an eye on each other.

"Lindsay, I want you to take the rest of the day off. Go home and prepare for your family's arrival. Just be careful, we don't know what type of person we are dealing with here." He could see Lindsay was about to object, so he interrupted her before she could start. "Look, Lindsay I know that you don't think that you need to go home. But right now, you have too much going on in your mind to think straight, and we need you to be at the best of your ability. I am not suggesting that you take time off, in fact I am against that, partly because I know that you would refuse and partly because if you are here, we can keep an eye on you. None of us would want something to happen to you."

Lindsay hung her head slightly, a little bewildered by the fact Mac knew what she was going to say. But hen again, he was a CSI and her boss, as well as a friend, so really, she shouldn't have been surprised by it. Sighing, she nodded her agreement to her boss, and pulled herself out of the chair.

As she headed towards the door, Mac stooped her. "Oh, and Lindsay?" She turned. "Tell Danny to take the rest of the day off too. I think you may need to educate him before he meets the parents." Lindsay was shell-shocked. They hadn't told anyone that they were dating, as they didn't want it to interfere with their work.

"How did you…?"

Mac smirked at her, and she knew that he'd known for a while, probably since they'd started dating a couple of months before.

"I know everything Lindsay. Just don't tell Stella that I knew before her." Lindsay laughed and nodded her agreement, before leaving Mac's office and walking towards her own.

Standing outside her office, she watched Danny for a while as he did his paperwork. She'd always thought he was funny to watch, as he frowned really hard when he was thinking, and as he was writing, he stuck his tongue out, the way a small child would. She blinked when he looked up from his paperwork and waved her inside,

"You like what you see Montana?" His trademark smirk on his face, he waited for her to make some smartass comment, but he became concerned when all she did was smile sadly and go to pick up her handbag. Alarm bells went off in his head.

"What's going on Montana? Everything alright?"

"I don't know yet. But we've gotta go."

"Go? Go where?"

"Back to mine. I have to get ready for my family's arrival tomorrow."

"Ok, start at the beginning. I am completely lost. Why are your family coming tomorrow, 'cos I'm sensing that it isn't just for a random visit. Is this to do with why Mac called you into his office?"

"Yeah. The short story is, my family have been getting threatening notes, and have mostly all received break-ins over the last few months. In these notes, both me and my family members have been threatened, so my family is coming here so that we can all be together and so that you guys can keep an eye on us."

"Threats? Like what?" Danny's voice was rising in alarm and concern for his girlfriend's safety.

"We don't know yet. The evidence is being sent to our lab so that we can process it. Something might stand out to us in a way that it wouldn't to Bozeman PD. Anyway, Mac has given us the afternoon off so that I can prepare for my family."

"And why did he give me the afternoon off? Not that I'm not grateful - if a psycho is out there and he's threatening ya, then I'm gonna stay close to keep you safe."

"He knows. So I think he guessed that a) I'd tell you what he said and b) that you wouldn't be able to concentrate if you knew I was at home alone. Also, he said that you need to be educated about my family so not to embarrass yourself in front of my parents."

Danny pouted, but dutifully picked up his jacket and turned off his computer. "At least it gets me out of doing paperwork."

Just before they left their office, Danny pulled Lindsay into a hug. He could tell that she was worried and also that she was unhappy about her family's arrival, though he didn't know why. Maybe she would tell him later. "I'm scared." He hear her mutter against his shoulder, and he whispered back "I know. But don't worry, I'll keep ya safe." Pulling back, he smiled at her, and they both left the room, hand in hand, regardless of who might be watching.

* * *

Once they were in Lindsay's car, they set off for her apartment, cursing the blocked Manhattan streets at rush hour. Danny could tell Lindsay was tense - her shoulders were rigid as she beeped the horn. He swore to himself that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Lindsay herself was feeling rather vulnerable - anyone could see into their department issue SUV just as they could see out, and the fact that there was someone out there who possibly wanted to hurt her sent shivers down her spine. That person could be anywhere.

Trying to distract herself, she turned off the radio, and turned to Danny. Traffic was at a standstill and would be for a while, so she thought she could use this time wisely.

"Right, time for your first lesson about the Monroe clan. Try to keep up." She smiled at him innocently, before starting.

"Right, my father is called Alex Monroe, and he has lived in Montana all of his life. Whilst I was a child, he spent most of the time working on our farm, trying to keep the family afloat. He has a brother, Jack, and a sister Emily. He was the first one to admit when I turned 16 that he would shoot any boys who tried to bother me, and believe me he wasn't joking as on my first date with a guy, when the guy picked me up, dad was sat on the porch polishing his shotgun.

My mother is called Sarah Monroe, and she is originally from Ohio. She went to Montana State University, just like I did, but she got a degree in dentistry, and she worked as a dentist's assistant for 12 years before packing up her job and deciding to become a journalist. She spent 6 months in England working for one of the main newspapers over there, before moving back to help my dad on the farm. Both her and my father and very protective of me and they both wanted me to settle down and become a farmer's wife in Montana where they could keep an eye on me. They were both devastated when I moved to New York, and spent most of the time trying to convince me to go back, which I ignored.

My brother is called Peter, and he is 3 years older than me, so obviously, you can imagine that he is also very protective of me because I am his younger sister. He lives with his wife Jo in Boston, working as a Manager for one of the big printing companies. He has 2 children, Lilly and Jake, who are 12 and 9.

Finally, my sister is called Annie and she is 3 years younger than me. She lives with her husband in Washington DC, where she works as a lawyer for one of the big international firms. Did you get all that?"

Lindsay looked over at Danny and was amused to see a horrified expression on his face. No doubt he was worried about her father's shotgun promise. She reached over and patted his knee. "Don't worry about my dad, I'll protect you." She started sniggering and put the car into gear as the traffic finally managed to disperse.

Oh yes, tomorrow was definitely going to fun, she thought to herself.

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_So, what did you guys think? I know loads of you have alerted this and I am grateful, but reviews are appreciated too puppy eyes_

_Many thanks go to those of you who have already reviewed - I love you all and this chapter is dedicated you you guys_


	3. Chapter 3

_Ok Ok i know I'm terrible. I haven't updated in ages and I'm very very sorry about that. I've just had a lot on my plate. But here is the next installement for you all._

_I wanna say thank you for all of you who have read and alerted and reviewed - I hope this is up to your expectations. Even though this is possible the shortest thing I have ever written so apologies about that, I just needed a filler chapter. Enjoy!!_

_Disclaimer: See everything else I have ever written. Not mine_

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_The figure sat in a car across the street, watching. She'd seen Lindsay and the blonde haired man enter the building hours ago, after following them home from work. Even after the sun set, she sat there patiently, waiting for them to leave the building once more, watching as the moon disappeared and the sun appeared once more. Lack of sleep didn't bother her. Not now when she was so close after so many years._

_From her position on the street, she could see Lindsay's window, not that it would do any good as the blinds were closed. The lights had gone out earlier so she assumed the two were sleeping, as the man had never come out. Well, she assumed they were sleeping. Although…_

_She'd made sure no one would be able to identify her. No one even gave her a second glance as she sat there, but then again, she was in New York City - everyone minded their own business. Good for her. Bad for them._

_But now, all she could do was wait. She'd set plan in motion. Now she'd have to wait and see if they took the bait._

* * *

Mac was in his office, working steadily through the huge pile of paperwork that had accumulated on his desk. Rape, murder, drugs, all the cases seemed to merge together - after all he'd been doing this a long time. Yet still he couldn't forget the ones that got away. Glancing upwards, he caught sight of the open, unsolved cases that still remained on the corner of his desk. Unlike a few months ago, there were now only 6 cases left.

Mac put his pen down, and stretched in his chair, trying to unclench the muscles in his back, whilst taking a look at the clock. It had been almost three hours since he'd started. He couldn't say he was surprise, he always lost track of time whilst working through his cases.

_Mentally_, he went through his team, trying to work out where they all were. Hawkes, Stella and Flack were out at a scene in Midtown Manhattan. Adam was in the AV lab, working through the videos from the case from the day before. Danny and Lindsay were due in in a couple of hours after picking up the Monroe clan from the airport (it had been decided they would take Lindsay's family home first and get them settled in before bringing them to the lab), so they would probably be leaving Lindsay's apartment soon to make it to the airport in time.

Just then, a knock at his door jolted him from his thoughts. Looking up, he noticed a nervous lab tech standing outside the door, waiting to be asked in. Mac motioned for them to come in.

"Erm Detective Taylor, this was just dropped off at reception for you."

The tech held out a large brown envelope with s shaking hand, and Mac took it, whilst trying to hide a grin - for some unknown reason, all the techs in the building seemed to be nervous of him. He looked down at the envelope and froze. His name was clearly on the envelope, but was constructed of letters that seemed to be cut out from a variety of newspapers.

Raising his head again, he barked at the tech "Who sent this?"

The tech stuttered back "I don't know Sir, it was brought up by one of the people from one of the other offices after it had been sent to their floor by mistake."

Mac nodded sharply before dismissing the tech, who seemed all to relieved to leave the room. Pulling on a pair of latex gloves, he opened the envelope carefully, trying not to rip the packaging. Tipping the contents out onto the desk, he breathed in sharply.

Picking up his phone dialled the familiar number.

"Monroe."

"Lindsay, it's Mac. I need you to come in ASAP."

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_Evil enough cliffhanger for you all? Wanna know whats in the envelope? Anyone wanna hazard a guess?_

_Next update should be up shortly, this was more of a filler chapter_


	4. Chapter 4

_I know, I'm awful, it's been too long since I updated this particular story, and I apologise. I will say that I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter, so any comments would be greatly appreciated._

_No beta, so all mistakes are mine. But I do wanna thank all my lovely readers, reviewers and those of you who have alerted and favourited._

_Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, not in the slightest_

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Lindsay stood at the terminal, impatiently waiting for her parent's plane to land. After a brief phone call to her parent's the night before, it had been decided that Mr and Mrs Monroe would fly out the following day, whereas Lindsay's brother and sister would join them at a later date if they felt the threat was imminent. This way it saved disrupting their families and jobs unless it was absolutely necessary.

Usually, Lindsay had the ability to wait for anything, It helped with the job, waiting for suspects to crack could take some time. But now, she was getting impatient. She just wanted to get this whole mess sorted out and soon. Every so often, she would walk forwards to check the time of arrival on the board, only to move back 30 seconds later after confirming that the plane was still on time and due to land any moment. Lindsay wasn't the type of person to pace when she was waiting for someone, but instead she bit her lip and rubbed her arms subconsciously, as if she were cold.

Besides her stood Danny, who was just nervous. He'd never met Lindsay's parents before - when he'd been in Montana for the trial, he'd had to leave earlier than he wanted to as Mac needed him back at work. After what Lindsay had said the before about her father being overprotective over his daughter, Danny had become more and more worried. He didn't know how Mr Monroe would react to the fact that Danny was dating his eldest daughter.

Both of them had stood in silence for the last 5 minutes, both lost in their own thoughts, until Lindsay saw the familiar faces in the crowd. They waved at her and she raised her hand in return, before turning to Danny, who had gone very pale. Taking his hand, she gently urged him forwards, and she and her family met in the middle. Almost immediately, she was pulled into a hug by her mother, and inevitably her hand was pulled from Danny's.

"Mom, get off, you're crushing me!" Lindsay voice came out muffled, and her mother let go of her reluctantly.

Sarah Monroe pulled back and looked at her eldest daughter. Lindsay in return looked back, and noticed that her mother's face was shadowed with fatigue, and concern and worry shone in her normally bright blue eyes. She kept looking around, as if she could feel someone watching her, and to see her mother so worried made Lindsay feel uneasy.

"Lindsay sweetie, are you ok? You haven't been receiving these God-awful messages have you?"

Lindsay frowned. "No. In fact yesterday was the first time that I'd even heard about YOU receiving them. Mom why didn't you tell me? I had to find out from my boss for crying out loud!" Lindsay's indignant voice kept rising, and Sarah glanced around, hoping that no one was watching the scene unfold.

"Lindsay honey, I wanted to tell you, I really did. But your father didn't think we should worry you until we knew what was going on. Didn't you Alex?"

Alex Monroe's attention was elsewhere. He was looking directly at Danny, eyes narrowed, fixing him with a steely glare. Danny was trying his best to meet Mr Monroe's gaze, but his hand rubbing the back of his neck was a clear sign that he was nervous.

"Who are you?" Alex's voice was hard, automatically untrusting after he'd seen how close his daughter had been to that man he didn't know.

"Danny Messer, Sir. Nice to meet you." Danny, his accent thick, held his hand out. Alex looked at it suspiciously until his wife shot him a look, and he reluctantly shook hands with the young man in front of him.

"You're the man that's been giving my daughter trouble aren't you? I'd be very careful if I were you, because nobody hurts my daughter and gets away with it."

Danny opened his mouth to reply, but Sarah got there first, her eyes blazing.

"Alex, don't be so bloody rude! From what Lindsay's told me, this man has been nothing but supportive of her, and you have no right to come here and make accusations! As if we don't have enough things to deal with without having your bloody stupidity to deal with as well."

Before the conversation could go any further, Lindsay's cell began to ring. Rolling her eyes at Danny, who looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him up, she pulled the phone out of her pocket and checked the caller display. Mac. Flipping the phone open with a practised technique, she answered, mouthing her boss's name to Danny, who'd been waiting to see who it was.

"Monroe." She answered as she always did, no matter of who was on the other end of the phone. It was a side effect of working the job that she did.

"_Lindsay, it's Mac. I need you to come in ASAP."_

"Why, is there a problem?" She briefly looked at Danny, who was looking back at her, concern and slight confusion in his eyes.

"_I'm not sure yet. But I need you to come in with your family as soon as you can. We may have had some developments on the case."_

"Alright, we'll be there shortly." She hung up, before turning to her family and Danny. "There's been a change of plans. We need to get back to the lab now. Mac says there might have been some developments on whats been going on."

* * *

Half an hour later, they arrived at the lab. Mid day traffic had been light, and for Lindsay, the time flew by, even though the atmosphere was tense - it was clear that Alex had something against Danny, and this was not making it any easier for Lindsay. She knew that her dad was never happy when she dated, but this was a first...

Eventually, she parked in the lab's garage and they all made their way to the 35th floor, where the lab was stationed. Once they got upstairs, they all trooped into Mac's office, Lindsay and Danny trying to avoid the stares of their fellow work mates, and Lindsay's parents taking in their surroundings. Mac heard them coming, and before Lindsay had the chance to even knock on the door to his office, he was already waving them in. Mac stood gracefully from behind his desk to welcome Lindsay's family, and after shaking all of their hands, and everyone being introduced by a nervous Lindsay, Mac indicated that they should sit.

Sensing everyone's curiosity, Mac cut to the chase. "Right, I know we originally agreed to meet after you had settled in but I received this package earlier. It was addressed to me, but when I opened it up, I realised that it could only be meant for you."

"What do you mean by that?" Sarah asked nervously.

"I'll show you." With that Mac stood up, and produced the envelope from one of the case folders on his desk. He opened the end of the envelope and let the contents fall onto his desk. He stood back so that the rest of the occupants in the room could get a look.

Lindsay looked in horror at what was in front of her. She inched forwards and picked up one of the photos from the table, holding the corner so as not to touch the photo and possibly corrupt any possible prints.

The photo was not of her. In fact the photo was not of anyone that she knew. But it was clear that these photos had also been taken without the subject being aware. And that made Lindsay extremely uneasy.

The subject was a young Caucasian female, who looked to be no older than 20 years old. She was quite petite, and in the photo, she seemed to be turning around, looking over her shoulder. A wide smile was visible on her face, and the light was reflecting off of her deep hazel coloured eyes, causing them to sparkle, whilst being framed by think, impossibly long lashes. Her hair was raven coloured, immensely straight and cropped around her face, no longer than her chin. She had been gifted with high cheekbones, and her skin was not pale but not tanned.

The photo that Lindsay held was a close up of the girl's face, and the photo itself was decent and would probably have been favoured by the subject. But there had been more than one photo in the envelope. After a quick count, Lindsay calculated that there must have been at least 20 different photos, and in each the girl was wearing different clothes, was in various locations and was doing different things. There were photos of her walking down the street, ones of her listening to her ipod, talking with other people, carrying books and even shots of her at work. It was clear from the sheer magnitude of photos that the girl had been watched for a long time.

But still they didn't know her identity, which made it that much harder to find out what was going on. Yet the more Lindsay looked at the photo, the more she felt she recognised the girl in the photo. Maybe she did know her. But she couldn't for the life of her remember who she was or where she'd seen her before.

Then Lindsay's eyes fell on the note among the prints. A single sheet of white paper had been carelessly added to the envelope, and in the same style, had letters taken from newspapers and magazines. Whoever was doing this clearly didn't want to get caught. But the message on the note was even more chilling.

_Mr and Mrs Monroe,_

_You might have left Montana, but I still know how to find you._

_It was just a matter of time before you came to join Lindsay. Which is fine, as she is a part of this too, even if she doesn't know it yet. Peter and Annie will follow in due course._

_You don't know who I am, and you won't find out until I want you to. You don't know where I am so for all you know I could be watching you right this moment. _

_You thought you left it all behind all those years ago. But now it's time your secret is revealed._

_And once it is, you won't be able to stop me. Your precious family is about to go boom._

* * *

_Erm, I like to think I left it on a good cliffhanger, but I'm not sure. I know its all a bit boring atm, but it will pick up soon, I promise._

_Any ideas as to who the girl is? _

_Please review!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Here is the next part of the story - I hope you like it :) Reviews are always welcomed_

_Thank you to all those who have reviewed, alerted and favourited_

_Disclaimer: See previous chapters_

* * *

Lindsay stared at the note, the feeling of dread washing over her. She glanced up, and found her parents both watching her, their faces pale. Lindsay shuddered at the expression of pure fear in their eyes, and dropped the note back onto the desk, the white piece of paper fluttering slowly down on top on the scattered photos. Something was going on. And it involved her whole family. And not only did it involve her family, it involved this girl, a girl Lindsay had never seen before.

How could she help someone she didn't even know when she couldn't even help her own family? The girl looked so happy, so innocent, and Lindsay couldn't help but feel like something would happen that changed all that.

Mac cleared his throat, and she turned around slowly, not meeting his eyes, instead looking out at New York City. How could she explain to Mac what was going on when she didn't know herself?

"Do any of you know who the girl in the photos is, or have any idea what the note could mean? Because we have very little to go on, and we need to know the full story." Lindsay shook her head regretfully (if she knew who the girl was or what the note meant, then there wouldn't be this problem) and shot a glance towards her parents. Sarah and Alex looked at each other briefly before answering. "Sorry Detective Taylor, we just don't know. Just like we have no idea what the other notes mean." Alex answered after a brief pause. Lindsay frowned - out of everyone in the room, she was probably the only one who picked up on her parent's hesitation. Was it possible they were holding something back? But before she could voice her concerns, a knock at the door brought her back to earth, and she looked up to find a very nervous lab tech with a cardboard box. The tech looked terrified at interrupting Mac's meeting, but held the box forward as if it were a peace offering. Lindsay wasn't to know, but this was the same tech who had brought the envelope to Mac earlier, and the prospect of interrupting the boss twice in one day, especially with a case that involved one of the team, was petrifying.

"I'm so sorry to intrude again Detective Taylor, but the office received this box - it's the evidence log from Bozeman PD. It arrived a few minutes ago." The tech sputtered, and Lindsay, having caught Danny's eye, had to run away to prevent herself from laughing. Once you got to know him, Mac was actually a really nice guy, but the tech wasn't to know that.

"Thank you. I'll take that." Mac took the box from the tech, who nodded quickly before making a speedy exit. Lindsay really did start laughing then, as the look on Mac's face was truly hilarious - he looked amused, as he knew the tech was scared of him, but bewildered at the same time.

"Seriously guys, what is it? Why are all the techs so scared of me?"

Lindsay bit her lip and Danny turned away. Mac, shaking his head, walked over to his desk, and balancing the evidence box on his knee, he gathered all of the photos carefully back into the envelope, along with the note, and then placed both the envelope and the box on the table.

"Right, here's what we're going to do. Lindsay, I want you to look through this box and read all of the previous notes - try and see if you can find anything that sounds familiar to you. Danny, I want you to take the photos, the envelope and the note and dust them for prints. Mr and Mrs Monroe, I want you to sit tight. I'd like you to stay in the building, but you can use the break room until we're done. Try and see if you can come up with anyone that would have a grudge against you, anyone at all, even if it's the neighbour who's dog you trod on. We'll meet back here in a while." Everyone nodded, and before Lindsay could pick up the box, Danny picked it up himself, and gestured that he would follow her out. He smirked at her as she rolled her eyes, and she left for the layout room, Danny close behind, with both Sarah and Alex watching them leave.

Mac saw the stare that Alex was sending at Danny's retreating back, and felt that he needed to defend his young CSI. "Don't worry about Danny, Alex. He won't hurt Lindsay." Alex looked at his feet quickly, embarrassed at being caught, whilst his wife bit down on her lip trying not to laugh at her overprotective husband. Gently taking his arm, she nodded her thanks at Mac, and husband and wife left together for the break room. Mac shook his head amused - Danny, no matter how tough he was with criminals, would always be brought down a peg or two by a girl's father.

* * *

Lindsay sat on her swivel chair in the layout room, quietly thumbing through the notes that she'd found in the evidence box. Danny had left over an hour ago, but whilst her father wasn't looking, she'd sneaked a kiss from her boyfriend, knowing that she needed some sense of normalcy whilst the rest of her world was in chaos.

All in all, there were roughly 11 notes, all single-line phrases, all showing the same stuck on letters and all making absolutely no sense to her what-so-ever.

_4__th__ ones the charm_

_17 years is all it takes_

_You should never have taken what was mine_

The notes continued in this fashion, and none of them seemed to link together at all. Lindsay usually liked puzzles, but she liked to take her time, and she didn't like to be under pressure - knowing that her family was relying on her to find something was not helping her think any faster or come up with any of the answers they were looking for.

The number 4 meant nothing to Lindsay, other than it being her unlucky number. 17 years, that could mean anything - 17 years ago, she'd been 11, and had just started her new school whilst her mother had been in England. _Taken what was mine? _Nope, that meant nothing to her either.

One note caught her eye. It was slightly longer than all the others, and was all scrunched up, as if someone had squashed it into a ball before unravelling it. The note read: _This is your fault Alex. You brought this upon yourself and your family. Now you'll have to pay for it._

Lindsay frowned again, her father's hesitation from earlier coming back to her. It sounded like her dad was hiding something, but she couldn't even begin to imagine what it was. And to her, it sounded like her mother knew something as well. But that begged the question as to why would they keep something so fundamental to the whole family hidden?

She put her head in her hands, and rested her elbows on the table. She had no idea what was going on. And it was beginning to scare her.

* * *

Hawkes was walking done the hallway, head buried deep into his case folder - a 27 year old man had been stabbed with a plastic sword. He'd shaken his head when he'd arrived on the scene, bemused as to how many bizarre crimes could happen in one city. He was currently waiting on Adam for trace results, and Stella was in interrogation with Flack with the man's current mistress.

He was alone in the hallway, the halls for once being empty of hurried CSI's and swamped techs. That was probably the only reason he heard the raised voices coming from the break room. Slowing down, he looked up from the folder, and cast a curious glance towards the room, where the blinds had been closed for probably the first time ever.

"That's not what I mean and you know it!"

The voice sounded angry, definitely female but was not one that Hawkes recognised. Hawkes stopped, torn between carrying on and breaking up the fight. The female voice filtered through the paper thin walls again.

"God damn it Alex, you and I both know exactly what this is about. But you're too god damn stubborn to tell everyone!"

"Bullshit Sarah! We agreed that would never mention what happened back then!"

"Yeah that was until that bitch came back to bite us in the ass!"

"So what, now its all my fault?"

"Well if you hadn't done what you did then we wouldn't be in this mess, the bitch wouldn't be taking revenge and our family wouldn't be in danger!"

"She's not part of our family anymore Sarah."

"She's our flesh and blood, so she'd still our family. I thought we'd saved her from this mess - she doesn't even know about us for Christ's sake!"

Hawkes frowned, now certain that this was a conversation he really shouldn't be listening to. Before he could move, the door swung open and revealed a very angry man, who brushed past Hawkes without even realising he was there. Hawkes glanced towards the door again and was confronted with an equally angry woman. Hawkes blinked - the woman in front of him looked like an older version of Lindsay. Then it clicked - she must be Lindsay's mother. Remembering that he must be staring, he asked "Is everything alright?"

The woman nodded tightly. "Yes thank you." The she stormed off after the man, who Hawkes could only presume was her husband and therefore Lindsay's father. Hawkes watched, feeling uncomfortable, as if he'd overheard a purposely private conversation. His pager went off - Adam had received his results. He made a mental note to tell Mac - whatever the conversation was about, he had a feeling it was important.

* * *

_So, what are the parents hiding?_

_Reviews are treasured and keeps a writer motivated._


	6. Chapter 6

_**Wow it's taken me a while to update hasn't it? It's been so busy recently, but I have taken the time out of writing my awful history essay on Lenin to write this chappie for you. I hope you like it :)**_

_**By the way, I have no idea whether the street exists or not, its all made up.**_

_**Thanks to all who read and alert and all the rest.**_

_**Disclaimer: Own nothing**_

* * *

_She held the package in her hands, smiling slightly. Glancing upwards, she looked out of her car window, making sure there was no one watching her, and without hesitation opened the package. The smile grew and became more sinister for every second that passed. Jack had done well. He'd done what she'd asked. And now her plan was slowly taking formation in front of her watching eyes._

_Looking into her mirror, she checked her wig and her sunglasses one more time. Crude yes, but nevertheless effective. No one would be able to tell it was her with the disguise, she'd made sure of that. Applying a coat of lipstick, blood red, she pouted at herself, smiling in grim satisfaction._

_Elegantly swinging her legs out of the car, she got out and steadied herself against the hood of the car. Purposely, she walked to the building, weaving in and out of the traffic effortlessly. Reaching the door of the crime lab, she paused quickly, allowing other people to leave the building, and when she was certain none of them would remember her, she entered. Walking up to the reception desk, she placed the package down carefully, not wanting to disturb the contents. _

_She wasn't a fool. She knew sending another package up to Taylor would be a mistake. He'd be down here in minutes, and she couldn't allow herself to get caught. No, she needed another recipient._

_The blonde receptionist blinked up at her expectantly, obviously bored out of her mind. "Can I help you?" Blondie's high pitched voice irritated her but she forced a smile onto her face. "Yes, could you please make sure this gets to Detective Bonasera?" The blonde nodded and looked back her computer screen, already bored with the exchange, and she had to force herself not to make a scene - she could not be noticed._

_Keeping the smile on her face, she turned and walked away, leaving the package on the counter. Maybe Stella wasn't the best option, but time was against her and she didn't have time to sit and choose a worthy recipient. Walking with her head high enough to keep people's focus away from her, but not high enough that the cameras she knew were in the left corner of the building would see her, she left the building. Making her way back to the car as flawlessly as before, the fake smile worked itself in to a real one. Getting in, she started the engine, and pulled away into the traffic of the busy Manhattan streets. No, she wouldn't be noticed. By the time anyone had realised what had happened, she'd be long gone._

_Finally, after all this time, all the planning, all the research, everything was finally coming together. Soon she'd get what she wanted._

_And maybe Lindsay would start getting the picture._

* * *

"Mac, can I have a word?" Hawkes stuck his head around Mac's office door. Mac looked up from the paperwork on his desk and waved him in. "How's your case going?" Hawkes handed him the folder, showing him the page with Adam's test results. "Well the trace Adam found on the sword was actually wood glue and the only person we know so far in that area of work is the victim's ex-fiancé's husband. He works in a shop on 33rd and 11th. Flack's gone to go and pick him up right now. If we can match his prints to those found on the sword, then we have our guy."

Mac nodded. "Why do I get the feeling that this isn't the reason you wanted to talk to me?" Hawkes hesitated briefly then decided that if anyone knew anything, it would be Mac. "Well I was walking past the break room earlier and I overheard a bit of an argument between two people who aren't part of the crime lab staff. The woman looked a bit like…"

"Lindsay." Mac finished off. "yes, we'll be having Lindsay's parents here for a while. There are some family problems that they have no control over and they need to be kept safe until we can figure out whats going on."

"But that's the thing Mac. They acted like they DID know what was going on. From what I heard, they were talking about someone they think is behind…whatever is going on." Mac frowned. "Look I could be completely wrong, I didn't hear the whole conversation. But something wasn't right." Hawkes finished.

Mac rubbed his chin thoughtfully, the frown still very much intact. "As much as I would hate to think that the Monroe's are keeping something from us, it would explain some other things that have been bothering me. Some of the notes have been addressed to Alex, Lindsay's father, referencing an event that happened 17 years ago, which means that whatever is going on he must have done something to trigger a reaction. And both of the Monroe's have been slightly hesitant to say they don't know anything." Standing, Mac moved from behind his desk and walked towards the front door. "I think it's time we have another chat with the Monroes."

* * *

On the other side of the lab, Stella and Lindsay were discussing the evidence from Bozeman. "Stella, I really have no idea what any of this means. I've looked through everything three times and still nothing sticks out. The only thing I did find that is only partially useful is this note that addresses my dad. Other than that, nothing! I mean what am I supposed to do with this? My family could be in danger and I can't do anything!" Lindsay was getting more and more agitated. Stella held her hands in the air and gestured that Lindsay should stop walking around like crazy.

"Lindsay honey, it's not your job to save everybody. I know this is your family, but you have to remember that you are a target too. And these notes, they are referencing something that happened 17 years ago - I mean you were how old? 10? You aren't expected to remember everything that has happened. We'll get the person that's doing this, I swear to you we will. But we need you to be calm."

Before the two could continue their conversation, the receptionist from downstairs walked into the room. "Detective Bonasera, this just came for you."

Stella took the package carefully, narrowing her eyes when she saw the newspaper print on the front. Glancing at Lindsay, she opened the package carefully, so as not to destroy any potential evidence, and gasped as she saw what she was holding. "Oh my God!"

* * *

_**Whats in the package this time? Gimme some reviews and you'll find out sooner ;) Nah only kidding, but reviews are nice nonetheless**_


	7. Chapter 7

_Ok I'm really sorry I haven't updated in a while, it's been a bit hectic and I have just had a bit of a low spell. But this is the next update. Just so you guys know, I've decided to focus on one story at a time, so the others might not be updated for a while. Though saying that, I'm on half term next week so should be able to do lots more writing then._

_Also, I am aware that the contents of the package will probably be a let down, but even so, I thought it would be a little different._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing and will never own it_

* * *

"Oh my God!" Stella was in such a state of shock that she almost dropped the delicate object in her hands. She started at Lindsay, mouth gaping open, dimly aware that all the colour had drained from her friend's face.

"Is that…is that what I think it is?" Lindsay whispered from behind her hands. In her hands, Stella help a small, crystal vial. A vial that was filled with a red liquid. A red liquid that looked suspiciously like blood. Gingerly, holding the vial firmly so that it wouldn't slip through her fingers, Stella held it up to the light. Tilting it, she watched as the liquid slowly ran down the inside of the tube, leaving a patchy reddish brown stain where the liquid had once been. "Judging by the viscosity of it, I would definitely say it was what we think it is."

"Who would send you something like that? I mean, blood in a vial is a really twisted thing to send someone." Lindsay shook her head in disbelief, momentarily having forgotten about her own crisis. She watched her friend carefully set the vial down in a test tube rack and shivered as chills ran down her spine.

Stella, her detective head taking control, picked up her fingerprint brush. Working quickly in the efficient way she had developed over the years, she dusted the sides and the cork of the vial, hoping desperately to find something. After a couple of minutes, she grinned triumphantly. There, on the side of the vial, bright pink dust contrasting from the dark red of blood, was a visible print. A full print. After photographing it, she used a plastic sheet to lift the print.

Lindsay raised her eyebrows. "Wow, someone didn't do a good job of clearing up after themselves did they?" As Stella set the print aside and picked up the packaging the vial had been delivered in, she asked "Do you think that this has something to do with your case?" Stella looked up startled and gave her a confused glance, and Lindsay couldn't help but feel as if she'd missed something vital. "What?"

Stella, having realised Lindsay hadn't seen the lettering on the front, slowly held out the envelope for Lindsay to have a look at. Lindsay took it, bemused, and stared at it, not really seeing what Stella could see. Flipping it over, she gasped. The lettering was just like in her own case.

She looked up. "Do you think this is just a coincidence or that…" Stella interrupted her gently. "It doesn't look like a coincidence Linds. This blood is going to be connected to your case."

Lindsay leapt up. "But that means whoever is doing this was in the building! We can ask around, check the security cameras, get a description! The receptionist must have seen them at least!" She moved towards the door, determined to find out what was going on.

Stella grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Linds, think about it. Whoever is doing this will be long gone by now. And if they have been watching you and your family closely then they will probably know where the cameras are in the building and will have stuck to the blacked out areas. Either that or they would have just hidden their appearance. And as for talking to people, not many would have been around at this time of day and I doubt the receptionist would have seen anything. She isn't the sharpest tool in the box. Besides, people drop packages off all the time, so I doubt she would have realised this time was any different."

Lindsay looked away sheepishly, embarrassed that her emotional side had overridden her better judgement. "I still want to catch this guy Stella." She said softly, looking towards the break room where she knew her parents were taking up residence for a while.

Stella nodded. "I know you do Kiddo. We all do. But what we can do right now is explain this to Mac and get Adam to test this sample and the print. Maybe that will get us that little bit closer."

* * *

"This can't be right." Adam muttered to himself, half believing that his eyes were acting up. But he knew deep down that they weren't. He'd run the same test three times, had used three different samples from the vial and had had the computer checked to see if it was malfunctioning twice. But still the results were the same. Mac was not going to like this.

Looking up from the paper print out, he saw Mac stalking past the trace lab, Hawkes right behind him. Jumping to his feet, he ran to intercede them. "Guys, I think you might wanna take a look at this." Leading them into the lab, he picked the print out up off of the table and held it between his fingers, trying not to cringe under Mac's gaze. "Mac, I got the results of the evidence Stella brought me. First, I ran the fingerprint through AFIS, but there was no hit. I tried extending the search, including work records and military records, but there still wasn't anything. Whoever did this is not in any system at all." Adam took a breath but paused before continuing.

"What about the blood in the vial?" Mac asked.

Adam rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I just want to say that I tested this three times and it all came back the same… the blood in that vial, it came back linked to an internal control sample."

"What? How is that possible?" Mac held his hand out for the results, and Adam hesitantly passed the sheet over, before dropping his gaze to his shoes. Mac's eyes scanned the sheet before fixing on one point. His jaw dropped. He passed the sheet to Hawkes, who'd been standing back just observing what was going on in front of him, and an expression of shock crossed his face. Mac and Hawkes shared a quick glance, before Mac returned his attention to Adam.

"You're sure about this?"

Adam nodded grimly. "Yeah I'm positive. All the equipment was working and I used three different samples from the same vial. That blood…it comes from Lindsay's mother or sister."

* * *

_I know, another evil cliffie. But I'm getting much closer to the actual secret now :)_

_I have the next chapter written and ready for you, so please review and I'll try and get it uploaded tomorrow :)_

_Thanks for reading, reviewing, alerting, favouriting or whatever you guys do :)_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Told ya all I'd update soon. Sorry it wasn't last night but was out babysitting. Hope you like this next chapter :)**_

_**Disclaimer: Own nothing**_

**Special Thanks to: **

**Lily Moonlight - I'm glad you liked the sinster aspect of the story, I was a bit unsure whether the contents of the package would be a disappointment or not, but yay I'm glad you liked it. Here's the update you wanted, hope its ok :)**

**Crazypeoplearemypeople - I'm glad you liked the cliffie and that your loving the story. Hope this meets your expectations :)**

**and Cowboysteel for proofreading :)**

* * *

Previously: "_That blood…it comes from Lindsay's mother or sister."_

Hawkes looked from Adam, who was shifting nervously on his feet, to Mac, who was still grimly staring at the piece of paper that had announced the latest bombshell on Lindsay's case. Hawkes would be the first to admit that he didn't really understand what was going on, but Mac had given him the brief version back in his office, and Hawkes had immediately offered to help out - his case was finished, no more had been called in and paperwork could wait. Lindsay was like his baby sister - he'd always felt close to her, especially seeing as when she'd joined, he'd only just finished his rookie training, and he could definitely understand her nerves. He'd helped her out as much as he could, and the two had become firm friends.

All he knew currently was that Lindsay and her family were being stalked, and that as of yet, no one had been able to find any leads. Or at least, none that they were willing to give. He'd put two and two together after Mac had told him what was going on - it was becoming more and more obvious that Lindsay's parents knew something. And it must be big if they couldn't even tell their own daughter what was going on.

Mac finally looked up from the sheet in front of him, and Hawkes tried to gauge his reaction. But Mac's expression was carefully blank, and even his eyes gave nothing away. It was part of what made him such a great CSI - nobody could ever tell what he was thinking, even if you knew him well. Only something truly awful or unexpected could ever change his expression, and even then no emotion was shown except a keen determination to get to the bottom of whatever happened. Mac spoke carefully, in his typically controlled manner. "I think we need to have a chat to Mr and Mrs Monroe."

Hawkes nodded and they both left the lab, leaving a visibly relieved Adam behind them. "Mac, do you think we should talk to Lindsay first? I think she'd want to know." Mac glanced at him briefly and nodded. They both walked down towards the office Lindsay shared with Danny, after casting an inquisitive stare towards the break room. Once they reached the office, they found Lindsay with Stella, both drinking cups of coffee, and both looking a little worse for wear. On the desk in front of her, Lindsay had spread what looked like case files everywhere, and Stella, seated at Danny's desk, had spread in front of her all of the evidence that had been found in relation to the case.

"How is everything going in here?" Mac asked, feeling sympathy towards his youngest CSI who looked as defeated as she had when she'd told him she had to go back to Montana. Lindsay smiled a small, tired smile at him, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. Opposite her, Stella shrugged and stretched back in the chair. "I got nothing. I've been through this evidence god knows how many times, and I still have nothing. Lindsay got nothing when she looked through it, and nothing that Bozeman PD found is actually of any use." Stella said. "Whoever this is, they know what they are doing. Either that or they are very lucky."

"Nobody is that lucky." Lindsay stated, her voice laden with frustration. "I've been through all of my case files from New York trying to find something that would help us but I still came up blank. I'm getting files from Bozeman just in case but something tells me that this hasn't really got anything to do with one of my cases." She rubbed her hands over her face. "But I'm trying anyway. There's got to be something."

Mac smiled at her determination despite the odds being pretty low - if they hadn't found anything yet, after three different CSI's had processed the evidence and one who'd involved had tried to find any connections, the chances of finding something were pretty low. He caught sight of the meaningful glance Hawkes was giving him and he realised that neither Stella nor Lindsay had missed it. Stella raised an eyebrow at him and Lindsay frowned slightly. "What is it Mac?"

Mac decided that it was just better to get the information out in the open. "Adam finished the test on the blood in that vial." He passed the results sheet over to Lindsay. "The blood comes from either your mother or your sister Lindsay." Lindsay's face paled, so much so she almost went completely white, and she looked up, mouth gaping in shock. "But…how…what…when did…?" She was in such a state of shock that she couldn't get her words out. Stella rose from her side of the desk and hurried over to her younger friend. She put one arm around her and took the sheet from her. Stella looked over to Mac. "You're sure about this?" Her voice was quiet. Mac nodded regretfully. "Yes, Adam checked it three times."

After looking to Mac for approval, Hawkes spoke up from the sidelines, again quietly observing. His heart went out to Lindsay but he knew that she still needed to know that her parents were hiding something. "Lindsay, we think your parents know something about this."

Lindsay's head jerked up and she stared at him. "What? Why on earth would you think that?" Her voice rose in indignation. Hawkes looked back at her, watching as her eyes flicked between him, Mac and the piece of paper in front on her. "I overheard them talking in the break room. They were arguing about something to do with someone in your family, and about your dad doing something. I don't think I should have overheard it, but I did, and I really think you might need to talk to them." Hawkes voice was calming, and as upset as Lindsay was that they were suggesting her parent's were hiding something, she trusted Hawkes and knew she should at least consider every angle. The CSI in her started overriding her emotional state, and she nodded curtly, standing quickly. "Ok, but if I've read this right, then this blood could either come from my mom or my sister Annie. So we can ask my mom for a blood sample and compare that, and if we run the blood through the Government databases then we can see if my sister comes up as a match. Her company decided to cover its bases and printed and got a DNA sample from everyone, just to check and see if any had any priors. That way it would save her the trouble and expense of flying out here." She glanced at Mac for confirmation, and he nodded.

"Right, let's do this." Lindsay squared her shoulders and walked out of the room, Mac, Stella and Hawkes all on her heels. They were going to get a blood sample and some answers.

* * *

**_Well that rounds this chapter off. Next time, if you so desire, there will be the confrontation with Lindsay's parents and hopefully their secret will be revealed._**

**_Also, I am in need of a female name for a future character, so if you have any ideas, then give me a bell :)_**

**_Reviews are much appreciated_**


	9. Chapter 9

_Here's the next installement - Hope you like it. Might be a few days before I update again so please leave reviews so I can improve it for y'all_

_Thanks to:_

_Lily Moonlight - Thanks for your review again hun :) I'm glad your liking the characters at the moment, though I did just realise that we haven't seen Danny in ages and I'm not sure we've seen Flack at all. No matter, I'll bring them back soon. Hope you like the cliffie here :)_

_Crazypeoplearemypeople - I'm glad I'm keeping you in suspense, I like to keep people hanging on ;) Thanks for your suggestions, I actually really like the name Stacey, so watch this space. Hope you enjoy this and thanks for you review :)_

_Disclaimer: Own nothing and probably never will sob_

* * *

Lindsay approached the break room door, feeling a strange sense of calm wash over her body. She wanted her answers and she wanted them now. As she approached the door, she heard her mother speaking.

"This is getting stupid. It's getting too crazy for us to keep this to ourselves. We should just tell them, after all they are trying to help us." Lindsay pushed the door open rather violently, so much so that it banged off of the glass wall, causing the glass to shake and her parents to whip their heads around to where she stood. "Tell who what mom?"

Lindsay's mother's mouth was gaping open, seemingly shocked into silence. Her dad cast a brief glance at his mute wife and coughed discreetly. "Erm…well to tell our neighbours that they really need to start taking better care of their animals. The paddock fence has been broken twice in the last month alone." Alex couldn't quite meet's his daughter's gaze, instead choosing to stare past her towards the now empty lab corridor, and Sarah nodded emphatically when her daughter looked to her for confirmation, looking extremely uncomfortable.

Lindsay raised her eyebrows, laughing bitterly, now certain that Hawkes and Mac had been right - her parents were definitely hiding something. "I don't think so Dad. You see, I'm a trained investigator. Its my job to tell when people are full of shit, and frankly, your lies are so transparent that anyone with half a mind could see through them. So what it is?"

"Lindsay Elizabeth Monroe, do not use language like that!" Alex rebuked his daughter, in a desperate attempt to change the subject. Lindsay glared at him. "For you information, Dad, I am a grown woman and I can use whatever language I want to. Now stop trying to change the subject."

Lindsay's mother spoke up timidly from the background. "Lindsay sweetie, we were honestly talking about Mr and Mrs Foster. You know how useless they can be." Sarah Monroe's voice may have been confident, and would have convinced anyone who couldn't see her that she was telling the truth. Unfortunately, her body language gave her away - her shoulders were rigid, her eyes were darting around the room and she was fiddling with the ring on her finger, a nervous habit that Lindsay could identify very well after 18 years of living with her mother, and a habit that she even had herself. Lindsay just stared at her mother, fully aware that, like Alex, Sarah would not meet her gaze properly.

"You sure about that mom? You want to rethink your answer?" Sarah shook her head and Alex stepped in once more. "There's nothing to tell."

Realising that even if her parents knew something, they weren't going to tell her, Lindsay laughed again, an unusually harsh sound coming out of her throat. "Right well, you can keep telling all the lies you want. I will find out what's going on. I mean, clearly you already know and are choosing to keep me in the dark. If you were going to do that, I don't know why you even bothered to ask for help in the first place. Either way, mom, we need a DNA sample from you."

Sarah looked up, startled. "What? Why would you need my DNA?"

Stella, having been observing how frustrated Lindsay was getting, stepped in. "Mrs Monroe, we need elimination samples for a piece of evidence we received earlier today. I also need to ask you whether or not you have had any blood tests recently."

"Blood tests? No, I haven't had any recently. Haven't been to the doctors in months actually. Why? Whats this evidence you need my DNA for?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not a liberty to say right now. Until we've determined what is going on and what significance you and your family have in this investigation, we can't really discuss anything." Sarah frowned, the answer clearly not what she wanted to hear, and Lindsay felt a strange sense of satisfaction - if she wasn't getting any answers, then her parents wouldn't either.

Mac coughed, drawing attention to him. He nodded at the Monroe parents and indicated that we wanted to see the members of his team outside. Gathering them in the corridor, he issued his instructions. "Right. Lindsay, if you go and ask Adam to run the sample through the government databases. Hawkes, if you could collect a sample of Mrs Monroe's DNA and then take it to Adam. Then we might see if we can find out what your parents are hiding." Lindsay and Hawkes nodded, both walking off in separate directions - Lindsay to the DNA lab to find Adam and Hawkes to his office to collect his kit.

"What about us Mac?" Stella asked. Mac cast a quick glance towards the break room, and then looked back at his partner. "We are going to go back through the Bozeman papers, trying to see if anything pops up that involves the Monroe's from 18 years ago."

* * *

Adam stood nervously near the computer, shifting under Lindsay's gaze that was boring into his back. She'd been sat there ever since she's arrived telling him to compare the vial blood with the blood of her sister via the government database. She'd said nothing, had just watched him work. And it made him nervous, almost as nervous as Mac made him. Maybe it was the fact that he felt pressured to work quickly, or maybe it was to do with his leftover crush for her, or maybe it was the fact that he needed to get the work right as they were dealing with a family issue. He'd been feeling even more pressured since Hawkes had dropped off Lindsay's mothers DNA.

"You know, if you feel more comfortable, you could wait in your office or the break room and I'll page you when I have the results." Lindsay shook her head. "If its ok with you, I think I'll wait here. It would just make me feel better."

Before Adam could respond, the computer beeped at him, and he thankfully picked up the results. "Ok, well the blood in the vial doesn't match you mother's sample. We're still waiting for the computer to search all the government databases to see if there is a match to your sister."

Lindsay nodded, taking some comfort in the fact the blood was not her mother's. Granted, it could be her sisters, her baby sisters, but it meant that her mother wasn't as guilty as she seemed. The computer beeped again, startling her from her thoughts. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't make herself look at the computer screen. She didn't want to find out that her sister's blood had been sent to her.

"Oh my god." Adam's voice scared her. He sounded disbelieving and that was what was scaring her. "What?" She still couldn't open her eyes. "It's Annie's blood isn't it? Isn't it? " Daring to open her eyes, she looked at Adam, who was looking back at her.

"No."

"What do you mean no? I mean it could either have been my mother's or my sisters and seeing as it's not my mother's, that leaves Annie right? She's the only sister I have."

Adam shook his head sympathetically. "It's still a blood match, a match that has to be a blood sister. But it's not Annie."

* * *

_Probably an evil place to leave it, but hopefully it will help inspire you to press the little purple button and review. Please, I'm a review junkie._

_Thanks for reading guys, next update will be coming shortly (i'm in the swing of writing this one now)_


	10. Chapter 10

_Bonsoir! Half term has arrived and given me a well earned break, so over the last few days, I have been on a writing frenzy. Hopefully over the next week, there will be some more updates :)_

_Its finally time for the Monroe's to own up to what they've been hiding. Hopefully it wasn't too predictable XD_

_Disclaimer: Not mine, Not mine, nothing is mine_

_**Special Thanks to:**_

_Catty - I hope this answers some of your questions :) I hope this mets your expectations. And I stole something that you wrote in your review 'cos it was so insightful that I just had to use it._

_Crazypeoplearemypeople - I know, I can be very evil when I want to be *evil laugh* I hope you like this :)_

_Camilita - Thank you very much for your name suggestions, I have used one of the names here, so it is greatly appreciated. I'm glad you like this, so I hope you like this chapter :)_

_JavaJunkie4evr - I'm glad you like the story. I know, there hasn't been much Danny, but I've brought him in at the end, and he will be in it a LOT from this point on :)_

_mjels - I'm glad you like it :) Hope this update is to your liking_

_Lily Moonlight - I'm glad you liked the characters - sometimes they can be so hard to write, but if its paying off, I'm pleased. I'm glad the cliffie was good, and I hope you like the secret. I hope it isn't too predictable, but even if it is, hopefully the reasoning behind it won't be. If that makes sense XD. And yes, Adam is adorable, I love him - I can totally picture him having a huge crush on Lindsay but trying not to show it around Danny. Hope you like this :)_

_Thanks for reviewing guys. And a big thanks to all those who have alerted, favourited and read this, it means a lot :) _

* * *

Lindsay's mouth was still gaping. "But…but this isn't possible. I don't HAVE another sister. There's just me, Annie and Peter." Before Adam could comment, Mac and Stella walked into the room, immediately noticing the strange atmosphere. Stella hurried over to her younger friend and put an arm around her shoulders. "Lindsay?"

Casting a nervous glance at a now mute Lindsay, Adam spoke. "I got the results back comparing Mrs Monroe's and Lindsay's sister's blood to our sample. And they were both negative."

"It's still a blood match. But it comes from someone else." Lindsay whispered. "I have another sister. That's the secret. That's what they didn't want to tell me. That's what this whole thing is about."

Mac was studying the results, making doubly sure that what Adam said was true. Looking up, he could see that Lindsay was in shock, but he could also see she was becoming more and more tense.

Lindsay stood abruptly, making Adam jump nervously and making Mac and Stella both stare at her. She grabbed the results from the table where Mac had just placed them, and stormed out of the lab, leaving her three friends slightly astounded. "Poor Lindsay. I don't think this was what she expected when she found out her parents were hiding something." Stella said sadly. "And she still has to tell Annie and Peter."

Mac nodded. "Lets just hope that she can forgive her parents for this. I hope they all can. I know it wasn't right of them not to tell her, especially after whats been happening, but if she's not careful, this could tear the family apart."

***

Lindsay burst into the break room, and slammed the blood results onto the table. "I have another sister? What the hell?!" She all but yelled, and both of her parents winced at the volume and harshness of her voice. Her mother started wringing her hands together and her father just looked at the floor. "How did you…?" Alex asked, just to be glared at by his wife.

"If you must know, we got sent a vial of blood. And when we tested that blood, it came back linked to my sample. So the blood had to have come from either my mother or sister. And blood doesn't match you, mom, and nor does it match Annie. So by a process of elimination, it stand to reason that the blood must come from another blood sister. But it doesn't really matter HOW i found out. All that matters is that i DID." She laughed bitterly. "Were you ever planning to tell me? Or were you just going to keep this quiet hoping that I'd never find out?"

"I'm so sorry Lindsay. I was hoping you wouldn't find out this way. I wanted to tell you, I really did, but your father…"

"Don't blame this on me. We both agreed when she was born that we would never tell them."

Lindsay looked between both of her parents, eyes narrowed. "I think you better start explaining. Because this whole mess is about this girl. A girl I just found out was my sister. And not just my sister, but a sister I didn't know existed. So start talking." Deep down, Lindsay hated being so blunt and forceful with her parents, but she knew that is she wasn't she would never get any answers.

Alex and Sarah both shared a glance but Sarah started talking first. "Ok, yes it's true that you have another sister. But we gave her up for adoption when she was born. We were in a tight spot back then - I'd just started my job and the farm was suffering a little. We couldn't really afford to keep another child. But before you ask, that's not really the reason we gave her up. We gave her up to protect her."

"Protect her? Protect her from what?"

Sarah Monroe looked down at her hands. "Things were hard back then Lindsay. You and Annie and Peter were too young to really notice much of what was going on. Before I found out I was pregnant, I found out that your father was having an affair." Lindsay's mouth dropped open. Whatever she had been expecting to hear, that was certainly not it. "Dad? You had an affair?

Alex looked up at his daughter for the first time since she'd entered the room. "It's not something I'm proud of Lindsay. The girl, she was just someone I'd met in a bar one night. Don't ask me to explain why I didn't it, because I really don't know. Just as I don't know why it continued for 3 months. There were never any feelings in it for me, but the girl, she fell for me. When I broke it off, after I found out your mother was pregnant, it broke her. She kept trying to change my mind, but I was insistent that I wasn't leaving your mother. I loved your mom Lindsay, don't ever think otherwise. But the girl, Nicole, she didn't want to accept it."

"When she found out I was pregnant, she got really angry. We don't really know why, maybe she thought the baby was rightfully hers. But she started doing things - she broke into our house, she killed the chickens we kept at the time, she let all the cows out. In the end, we thought it would be safer if I left Montana for a while, and when the office had an opening in England, I took it without a hesitation. By the time I left for England, I was about 4 months, and was just starting to show. You never noticed that I was starting to show, and you didn't notice all of the pregnancy symptoms, and you never knew about the baby as I gave birth in England. Eventually, Nicole was arrested, but she always swore that she'd get back at us. That she'd take the child away from us. They couldn't hold her for very long. So we gave the child up for adoption - if she didn't know where our child was, then she'd never be able to hurt her. Or at least that was the plan. She was adopted by an English family, a private adoption so that there wouldn't be too much paperwork. After I finished my contract in England, I came back to Montana., and I never saw your sister again. We didn't stay in contact with the family that adopted her, we though it would be too painful. I came back, and we just tried to pretend that it never happened." Sarah finished.

"Why did you never tell us? Even if not back then, why didn't you tell us when we got older? Why did you keep it secret for 17 years?"

"We knew that if we told you at the time, you'd want to keep the baby, and it wasn't safe to do that. As time went on, we just figured that it wouldn't matter - if we told you, you would have wanted to find your sister, and we made her adoptive parents swear that they would never tell her that she was adopted. We may have given her up, but she is still out daughter and we didn't want any harm to come to her." Sarah dared to looked her eldest daughter in the eye, but had to look away again when she saw the depth of hurt in her daughter's eyes.

Lindsay turned away from her parents, needing the time to process what they had just told her. Without her noticing, the rest of the team, bar Danny, had entered the room, and had listened in on what Alex and Sarah were saying. Mac had his trademark, grave expression and his eyes were unreadable, but Stella and Hawke's eyes were full of sympathy. Flack just looked confused but he gave her a kind smile regardless.

The sympathy and the kindness shown by her friends was just too much for Lindsay. She didn't want sympathy, she didn't want pity. Pushing past them, tears starting to blur her vision, she bolted from the room, running down the corridor towards the locker room. She turned the corner and ran straight into Danny. "Whoa. Easy there Montana. Where's the fire?"

She collapsed into his arms and burst into tears. "They lied to me Danny. They've lied to me for the last 17 years." Her sobs wracked her body and Danny just held her, gently rubbing her back.

"Who lied to you Montana?"

"My mom and dad. I have another sister."

* * *

_Well I hope you all liked that. It was really hard to write but hopefully it paid off. Feel free to leave a review :)_

_Also, one other thing I would like to mention - I have a poll going on on my profile at the moment and it would be greatly appreciated if you could take two minutes of your time and take part. Thanks guys :)_


	11. Chapter 11

_Ok, so now the secret is finally out. But that doesn't mean this is over just yet ;)_

_Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me at all. All similarities are a complete coincidence and all mistakes are mine, trust me._

_**Special thanks to:**_

_Crazypeoplearemypeople - I'm glad I managed to shock you with the news of another sister. I feel much better knowing it wasn't too predictable :) Hope you like_

_mjels - You're very welcome for the note. I'm usually useless at thanking my reviewers, but I'm working on it I swear. Hope this is ok for you :)_

_Camilita - Woop I'm glad it was a shock and I'm glad you like this. It's getting quite hard to write, but you can count on more shocks coming your way ;) *evil laugh*_

_JavaJunkie4evr - Yes our stalker is Nicole. But just because they know who it is, that doesn't necessarily help them. Well at this point it doesn't. And you're welcome, I was panning on bringing Danny back for ages but it never seemed like the right time. I'm hopefully going to have many more DL moments after this chapter so yay_

_and Lily Moonlight - Yes, something unpleaseant is afoot at the moment, but I'm not letting on what that is yet. Although we know she wants revenge, we don't know what form that revenge is going to take (hell even I don't and I'm the writer lol). I need to have some suspense hehe. Let's put it this way, we haven't seen the last of Nicole. Not by a long shot. I'm glad your liking this, and I shall try and insert Sid in the story somewhere - I do love him, his stories are so funny. Hope you like this update :)_

_Thanks guys for your lovely reviews :)_

* * *

After Lindsay left, the room was filled with a stunned silence. Alex returned to looking at the ground, and his wife just stared at the door her eldest daughter had left through, tears filling her eyes. Flack looked around at the rest of the team, a confused expression still etched into his features. Sending a meaningful glance at Stella, she sent one back. _I'll tell you later. _It was amazing how well he could read Stella's facial expressions, but then he guessed after working together for so many years, it was just a given now.

Stella herself turned to go after her friend, but no sooner than she'd turned around, she saw Lindsay run into Danny. Smiling softly - Danny would be able to calm Lindsay down - she decided to give the young couple their space. If they needed help, they would ask for , Mac had taken charge of the situation. "Ok, now we know what's going on and who's involved, we can get a start on solving the problem. Mr and Mrs Monroe, I'm going to need Nicole's full name and I am also going to need the names of your daughter's adoptive parents." Sarah paled. "Detective Taylor, I know you mean well. But we worked very hard to make sure that our daughter didn't know who we are or that she was adopted. We didn't want her to find out about us."

"With all due respect, we don't have a choice. In case you've forgotten, that blood was your daughter's blood. And the fact that she is being referenced in these notes means that she too could be in danger. We need to find her and her adoptive family so that they can be protected until this mess is over. If you want us to protect your daughter, then you will tell me those names."

Sarah made to object again, but she was shushed by her husband. "Nicole's full name was Nicole Turner. I think she has a sister who still lives in Montana. And the names of the adoptive parents were Ethan and Jodie Marshall. They used to live near London in England, but whether they still do, we don't know. Like we said, we don't keep in touch with them. We don't even know our daughter's name."

"What does Nicole look like?" Flack asked.

"The last time we saw her, she had shoulder-length ginger hair and was about 5"11. She has blue eyes, about average build. But that's all I could tell you. It's been a long time since we've seen her."

Flack nodded. "Alright, I'll start a search. If I get anything I'll let you know." He left the room, still looking confused but now with a new sense of determination in his step that he always got when it was time to nail a perp.

Mac turned his attention back to the group. "Right this is what we are going to do. Hawkes, I want you to ring round all of the airlines and check to see if this Nicole has booked or taken any flights over a time period of the last 2 months. If nothing, extend the search to further back and further forwards to see if she's planning on leaving for England anytime soon. Stella, I want you to ring our embassy in London. Get them to start searching for anything on this family. Location, medical records, education, anything that can account for why we have a vial of her blood, whatever you can find. We need to find this girl before anything else happens."

***

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have now arrived at London Heathrow Airport, Terminal 3. On behalf on the staff today, we would like to thank you for flying with us. We hope you had a pleasant journey. We should be able to de-board in roughly five minutes. Until then, please remain in your seats until the plane has stopped moving. The use of mobile phones and electronic equipment is now permitted. We would like to remind you that…"

_She sat in her, facing the window, tuning out the final messages from the staff. She shivered. A sense of excitement was building inside her, in a way that she hadn't felt for a long time. She was finally coming closer to the end of her plan; it was all finally falling together._

_She glanced at her watch, tapping her foot impatiently. Jack would be waiting for her when she finally got out of the airport, and she was glad - being American, she had a limited understanding of how the British worked. For example, the fact they drove on the other side of the road totally threw her, as did the currency. She'd need Jack to get settled. Otherwise she'd be completely lost._

_Mind you, she thought, by the time the Monroe's admitted who she was, she'd be long gone. No doubt the CSI's would track her passport activity, but she didn't mind. She wanted them to follow her. It made this …game all the more exciting. Even if they did track her this far, they wouldn't be able to find her unless they found the girl and her family first. She had a new identity, new appearance, a new life. And she had a head start - she knew where the girl was. _

_Yes her life would be so much better now. All she needed to make that life complete was the girl._

_***_

"You're sure that it was Nicole Turner? Yes…Yes I understand. What time was the flight? And what time was it supposed to land?…Which airline? Ok, thank you very much for your time." Hawkes hung up the phone. At last, after ringing up almost every airline in the state and almost three hours of inconclusive phone calls, he'd found what he was looking for. He spotted Mac in his office and headed over there.

"Mac. I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Nicole Turner booked a flight with British Airways. The bad news is that the flight left this morning at 10:15 and arrived in London about an hour ago. They have security footage showing that she got off of the flight, got her bags and left the airport but that's all they've got. "

Mac muttered darkly to himself. "So she's already in England." Leaning forwards onto his hands, he looked thoughtful. "This seems too big for her to have done all this by herself. I think she must have had a partner. Of course that's all irrelevant if she already knows where the girl is."

Just then, Stella burst into the room. "Mac I just got off of the phone with out correspondent in London, and after some persuading, he did a search for the adoptive parents. He told me that they don't live near London anymore, but they moved about 2 hours north. He did give me an address but he said he couldn't release the daughter's name without the parent's permission, seeing as she was adopted and is only 17, just as he couldn't release the medical or educational records. He also said that they would keep an eye out for Nicole Turner, but that the police in that particular area are already stretched to the limit and aren't equipped for this type of situation."

"Meaning if we want this girl, we're going to have to do it ourselves." Mac finished. Stella just nodded, and both she and Hawkes looked to Mac for what they should do next.

"Hawkes, I want you to look at all of Nicole Turner's phone records and internet records - try and establish whether or not we are looking for another person as well." Hawkes nodded and left the room, heading back down the hallway from which he'd just come.

Mac then looked at Stella. "I think we need to have a talk with Lindsay. But I also think that's its safe to say that some of us will be off to England."

* * *

_This is probably a bit out there, but being British myself, I thought that it would be nice if we brought some of the CSIs over too._

_So, who's going to be going of to England? Will they save the mysterious sister in time? How will the sister react to the news that she's adopted? Who knows - certianly not me! Nah just kidding. Next update will be up shortly._

_Thanks for reading, reviewing, alerting and favouriting._


	12. Chapter 12

_I know, it's been ages since I've updated and for that I am truly sorry. It's been so hectic, especially after today when I couldn't do my psychology coursework because the projector broke and I was so embarrased (you'll be pleased to know I'm using CSI NY in my coursework) and it's all a bit blah at the moment. But here you go :)_

_Disclaimer: Own nothing_

_Special thanks to:_

_mjels - Sorry about the wait but here is the next chapter you were waiting on :) I can't tell you who'll get to the sister first but even so, its only part of what I have planned *cue evil laugh*_

_JavaJunkie4evr - I'm glad you liked the idea of England. I live here you see so I thought would spread the joy of hot men around XD (there aren't any where I live). And yes, Nicole is crazy, but I'm not saying what she's planning just yet haha_

_Crazypeoplearemypeople - I wish that the CSIs would come over here in the show, but seeing as they don't, I had to do something :) I'm glad you liked Stella/Flack, I do think they would be a cute couple and thought I'd hint at another pairing for a change. Hope you enjoy this :) and sorry about the wait XD_

_Lily Moonlight - I know you wanted Mac, Stella and Hawkes over here, but I could only manage one. You'll see why later, I hope thats ok. I'll bring the other two over later I promise :) Glad you liked the humour, I thought it was about time for some seeing as there is quite a lot of angst. Besides, Flack is generally a funny characters. And I don't think we see eough of Mac's emotions so I thought I'd try that too. Who Jack is and what the sinister Nicole is going to do will be revealed soon, but not too soon - I need to keep you guys hanging on a little. Hope all is well with your story :)_

_Thanks you guys for reviewing, it means a lot and is greatly appreciated. Also thanks to my beta Cowboysteel, those of you who have read, favourited and alerted :) Hope you all are well_

* * *

Lindsay stared out of the plane window, gazing mindlessly at the clouds that were passing them by. They'd been flying for roughly four hours and were about halfway through their journey to London Heathrow airport. After that, Stella said it would be a roughly 2 hour drive to the town where this girl, her sister she kept reminding herself, lived. Besides her, Danny was snoring, after having to be knocked out with sleeping pills the minute they got on the plane, and beyond him, Stella and Flack were deep in discussion about something she couldn't quite hear. Lindsay had been so relieved to know that she didn't have to do this alone, that her friends were there to help her. But mostly, she was grateful for the fact that they had understood that she had to do this, even though initially they'd been hesitant to send her to England.

Flashback

"_I'm going." Lindsay's voice was steady and the intention behind her words was clear. The whole team had gathered in Mac's office again, discussing who should fly out to England. As much as the whole team wanted to be there for Lindsay, they knew that at least a few of them needed to stay behind. The lab wouldn't run itself. And criminals wouldn't stop committing crimes due to the sheer inconvenience. As it was, only Mac and Stella were authorised to run the lab, so one of them would have to stay behind. _

_Mac ran his hand over his eyes, trying to dispel the sudden fatigue that had taken over him. He could understand Lindsay, he really could - she was only trying to protect her family. Albeit, a family member she hadn't known she'd had for over 17years, but a family member nonetheless, and Lindsay, Mac knew, would do anything to protect someone she cared about. _

_Mac didn't know was awaited Lindsay in England. Yes, she would hopefully find her sister, and she would hopefully find this 'Nicole' and put her behind bars. But it would be a lot more complex than that. Lindsay would have to reveal a secret that had been kept hidden for 17 years, would have to tell this girl that not only was she adopted but that Lindsay was her blood sister. It would be hard to explain to this girl, a girl they didn't even yet know the name of, why she'd been given up at birth and why she'd never been told that she was adopted. And if Lindsay had issues with her parents for giving away her sister, it would be nothing like this issues this girl would have with her adoptive parents. And as much as Mac tried to forget about it, he couldn't deny that there was a possibility that 'Nicole' could hurt Lindsay. It would be a hard trip for Lindsay regardless of what happened, and Mac wanted to be fully sure that she could cope before he sent her into something he wouldn't be able to control._

"_Mac, I have to go. This isn't just a normal case. This is my sister. I need to go. I won't be able to concentrate here if others can go and I'm left behind. I can go on my own is necessary and that way the lab won't be affected." Lindsay's tone was pleading, and Mac could hear the barely disguised despair in her voice. _

"_No way, I'm not letting you fly out to England by yourself." Danny argued and Hawkes nodded in agreement. "It's not safe for you Linds. God only knows what this woman will do if she finds you."_

"_Well I can't just leave my sister in the lurch." Lindsay argued back._

_Mac knew deep down that out of anyone, Lindsay needed to go. She was right, this was her family. And family protected one another, no matter where they came from or who they were. He held up his hands for silence, and one by one the arguing CSI's went quite._

"_I understand that you all want to go to England to stop this person, but I just can't have all of my CSI's flying out to England. I need some of you to stay here. By right, I think Lindsay should go. This is after all her family we are talking about. Stella, I think that you should go as well, especially as you were the one who spoke to our correspondent in London - you already know where Lindsay's sister is, and finding her quickly is essential. And I'm willing to send one other CSI with you two as well as Flack, as long as the captain agrees. If necessary, I can get the night shift to cover for a couple of days and the rest of us can fly out. But unless that's essential, my hands are tied." _

End Flashback

Eventually, it had been decided that Danny would accompany Lindsay, Stella and Flack, with Hawkes saying that Danny would be able to support Lindsay in a way that he couldn't. Mac gave Danny and Stella two weeks off, and Flack had been assured the same amount of time after the talk with his captain, but had given Lindsay as much time as she needed - he needed her to be fully focused and to have solved all of the issues surrounding her family before she could return to work properly. It might have sounded harsh, but they all knew, Lindsay included, that Mac was only looking out for Lindsay's wellbeing.

Lindsay had left Mac's office a short while later with both a sense of nervousness and a sense of urgency. The four had parted ways and had left the lab to pack for their trip, before returning to the lab a while later to be dropped off at the airport by Mac.

The whole time that they had been in the airport, Stella, Danny and Flack were chatting continuously, trying to keep Lindsay away from the dark thoughts in her mind. Stella had begun musing about the different shops in London (a place she'd never been and probably a place she wouldn't get to visit properly whilst she was there) and starting thinking aloud about the things she'd be able to buy thanks to the exchange rate. Flack and Danny tuned out her voice, and instead began to debate about basketball.

But as much as she had appreciated what her friends were doing for her and her family, the whole situation was just too overwhelming. When she'd got on the plane, Lindsay hadn't felt like talking to anyone, so had taken the free earphones and plugged them in, hoping no one would push her to talk about meaningless things. And she'd stayed that way ever since, and thankfully, the two friends of hers that were conscious were respecting her need for space. At that point in time, there was a movie showing on the small screen in the row in front of her, but she wasn't really paying much attention to what was showing. Her thoughts were elsewhere.

When she'd told her parents she was flying out to England (a conversation conducted once she'd returned to the lab after packing), they had tried to persuade her to let them come too. After all it was their daughter. But Lindsay had been insistent that they didn't go. She was still so angry at them, and she knew that it would just make this visit harder. In fact, if Mac hadn't forced her to, she wouldn't have told her parents she was leaving for England at all. She knew on some level deep down that they had only done what they saw as best, but she still couldn't understand why they hadn't told her. Hadn't told anyone.

But as betrayed as she felt, she couldn't even begin to imagine how this girl was going to react to the news that she was adopted. Alex and Sarah had sworn blind that her parents had promised never to tell her the truth, but somehow that made it all the worse. This girl had no idea what was coming. Maybe she would be ok with it, maybe she would understand. But the chances were that she would still feel betrayed and confused. And it wasn't as if that was the worst part - Lindsay also had to tell her that she could be in danger from their father's stalker. She shook her head despairingly - this whole thing was a mess.

In the seat next to her, Danny shifted in his sleep, and Lindsay looked over at him, a tired smile gracing her face. It was only after they'd left Mac's office that he'd admitted to her, in private of course, that he was terrified of flying. She'd asked him what he'd done when he'd flown to and from Montana, and he'd broken eye contact, blushing as he admitted he'd had to take sleeping pills.

She'd initially been confused with the fact Danny Messer was scared of something (after all he'd never admitted to being scared of anything) and had just had to laugh when she'd seen the look of trepidation on his face when they'd arrived at the airport (hell, he'd never left New York City in his life, and had watched way too many films with plane crashes in them). But nonetheless, she was deeply grateful he had come with her. He'd been so supportive after she'd run into him outside their office, just as he always had been.

Flashback

_She collapsed sobbing into his arms, and he pulled her close, letting her cry. Noticing that all the lab techs were watching the interaction as if it were a home movie, he steered her away from their prying eyes, into the locker room. Shutting the door behind him, he led her to the nearest bench and sat down, pulling her onto his lap. She settled her head into the crook of his neck, her small body wracked with sobs, while he rubbed her back and muttered comforting Italian phrases into her ear._

_End Flashback_

Danny had always had that effect on her. Even after she'd just started, despite his teasing and sarcastic comments, he'd always looked out for her. Which is exactly what he was doing now.

Her thoughts returning to the same thought she'd started with, she turned back to the window, gazing now at the huge expanse of blue below. Strangely, as Lindsay hated water, the sea below had a calming effect on her, and she felt herself relaxing into the uncomfortable chair. Deciding that her endless thoughts were just stressing her out, she tried to refocus her mind onto the film that was showing. After all, there was nothing she could do until the reached dry land again.

* * *

_So, what did you think? I swear the next chapter will have a bit more happening. I just thought we needed to see Lindsay's emotional state for a bit._

_Also, please take the poll on my profile. It only takes a minute :)_


	13. Chapter 13

_I know, I'm so lame, I haven't updated in ages. I just hit a black spot with things and I just didn't have the motivation or the energy to write more. But that has changed for now :) To make up for my lameness, this chapter is especailly long (possibly the longest thing I have ever written in one go)_

_Also, for anyone who is interested, I have finally thought up an idea to continue my story Walk Away, so hopefully that should be updated soon too :)_

_The next update will hopefully be up much quicker than this one_

_BY THE WAY: HAS ANYONE SEEN THE PROMO FOR EPISODE NINE - IT LOOKS FANTASTIC!! I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT IT :D :D :D but I really do wish Danny would start wearing the glasses again_

_VERY SPECIAL THANKS to all those who read, review, alert and favourite - it makes my day to know people like this_

_Thanks go to:_

_mjels: I'm glad you liked the scared Danny bit, I just though that it would be so ironic of him to be scared of something. I hope you like this :)_

_Camilita: Hehe yeah they are near london. I'm thinking of having them in London later on, possibly with Danny and Flack being typical tourists. What do you think? :)_

_Montana Angell: I'm glad you liked the description, I'm always worried that I don't do enough. But if you like it, then I'm happy :) Thanks for polling by the way :)_

_Lily Moonlight: So sorry that this is so late XD But yay I'm glad you liked the humour, hopefully the bit of humour I've tried in this chapter will work :S Who knows haha. I don't know if I have any other pairings planned yet, but I am definately open to suggestions. Maybe a long-distance phone call between Mac and Stella? And yay, I'm glad you like the way I write Danny, sometimes he can be so hard to write because I want to get him spot on. Oh well, if people like him like this, then so do I :D Can't wait for your next story by the way, am very excited_

* * *

Stella glanced out her rear-view mirror of the rented car, both trying to manoeuvre herself through the British traffic and to try and see how her friend was holding up. Since leaving the airport, Lindsay had said nothing, and the three others let her be. Stella couldn't even begin to imagine how she was feeling - a secret that had been kept for so long would most definitely leave a mark.

She pulled out into the left lane, carefully keeping her distance from the car in front, preparing to take the next exit off of the motorway. Stella had never been to England before, nor had she ever driven on the opposite side of the road like she was now, but she quickly picked up the basic concepts. Much more so than Flack, who'd been insistent that he was driving until Lindsay had pointed out that the steering wheel was on the other side of the car than the one he was used to. Flack had grimaced, turning crimson red in embarrassment, and had without another word got into what he now realised was the passenger seat of the car. Danny had teased him about it until Flack brought up the topic of plane phobias - Danny had woken shortly before the plane had landed and had begun stressing out about the descent of the plane. He'd only calmed down after Lindsay had whispered something into his ear, something which Stella didn't hear and didn't want to hear, but had remained slightly green for the rest of the descent into the terminal, hands clenching the armrest and almost passing out when the plane wheels came into contact with the tarmac upon landing. After Stella had threatened them both with sending a text to Mac telling him to spread the word of their antics, Flack and Danny had both wisely chosen to stop teasing each other.

Stella indicated left into the next junction, peering out of the windshield to see the signpost. Grimacing as she saw that she had to take the third turn off of the roundabout (not being used to this concept made it so much harder), she sighed and concentrated hard, determined not to give Danny and Flack any ammunition against her. Not that they could have anyway, as they were both sleeping like babies, but it was the principle, she thought.

After getting herself into the right lane and taking the exit she needed, she relaxed slightly. She took a deep breath, telling herself that there wasn't much further to go. They were only about 45 minutes away from their destination. Stella was trying not to think about what was going to happen where they were going - she was almost sure they wouldn't be welcome. But every so often, her mind wandered away from the menial task of driving and her thoughts would return to Lindsay and the situation they faced. It would not be easy to resolve this situation - they didn't even know where Nicole was. But as hard as it would be from her CSI perspective, it would be much harder for Lindsay.

***

"We're here." Stella's words pierced Lindsay's thoughts, and she lifted her head to look at their destination. They'd been driving for a little over two hours now, and with every mile that passed, every mile bringing her closer to her long-lost sister, Lindsay became more and more nervous. She took a shuddering breath, rolling her head on her shoulders, trying to relax the muscles that had errantly been tense since the day her parent's had arrived in New York.

She'd spent the car journey gazing mindlessly out of the window, watching as the blur of the British countryside fly past her. Since leaving Heathrow airport, the buildings gradually diminished and the sky opened up, reminding her of the open fields and countryside of her native Montana.

But now, they were finally at the end of their journey. She stared out of her window, taking in the sight before her, the place where her sister lived. The house itself was simple. A double garage to the left of the wide blue front door, a small green lawn encircled by small bushes. A small gravel driveway with a red Audi on it.

Biting her lip, she sat there, unsure of what to do. This girl's house seemed so normal. The neighbourhood seemed normal. But this girl, the girl she would soon find out the name of, would no longer have a normal life, the life that she recognised. Lindsay was going to change that. She didn't want to. But it was what she had to do.

Looking up, she caught Stella's eye and smiled briefly as the older woman nodded at her. She watched as Stella pulled the keys out of the engine.

"Come on Kiddo. Let's do this. We'll leave the boys to sleep it off." Stella said, seemingly trying to hold back her laughter as she observed the two guys sleeping - Danny snoring lightly, and Flack talking quietly about nothing under his breath. Lindsay too laughed at the sight before her, the first time she'd laughed properly since she'd told Danny about her father.

Together the two women got out of the car, Stella locking the door behind her with a careless wave over her shoulder, muttering "I hope they don't set the alarm off. I have no idea to turn it off if they do." Lindsay snickered, but sobered up rapidly as they reached the door and Stella rang the bell. Now there really was no turning back.

Lindsay fidgeted on her feet, wringing her hands nervously as they waited for the door to be answered. After a few seconds, the door was pulled open, revealing a roughly 40 year old woman, who was carelessly pulling her dark brown hair off of her face into a messy ponytail.

"Can I help you?" Her azure blue eyes flicked over the two women on her doorstep, pausing slightly longer on Lindsay, frowning as if she thought she knew her but couldn't quite place her.

"Jodie Marshall?"

"Yes?"

"I'm Detective Stella Bonasera and this is Detective Lindsay Monroe from the NYPD. We were wondering…" But Stella didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as Jodie's eyes flicked back to Lindsay at the mention of her name, face paling rapidly, recognition finally seeking into her brain. "You're Sarah's daughter?" The question was whispered more of a statement, but the meaning was clear. Lindsay dropped her eyes and nodded, carefully looking anywhere but at Jodie.

Sensing Lindsay's withdrawal, Stella jumped in. "Mrs Marshall, we need to speak to you about your daughter. It's very important that we speak to her and we need to make you aware of a situation that has developed around her. Please may we come in?"

"You can't take her away from us! You can't!" Jodie blurted out.

"We're not here to take her away from you. We're here to help you. We believe she may be in danger." Stella's voice was soothing and reassuring, and Jodie lost the look of frantic helplessness from her face, but she still looked unsure. At the mention of danger involving her daughter, Jodie's eyes widened slightly, and she looked away briefly, as if she was considering her options. Slowly, as if unsure of her decision, she stepped back from the door, allowing the two detectives into her house.

Directing the two women into her living room, Jodie shut the door behind them and moved towards a door to her left. Knocking sharply on the glass, she called "Ethan. We have visitors. They need to speak to us." The door swung open to reveal a man, roughly Danny's height and roughly the same age as his wife. His brown hair was speckled with grey and his face was deep with wrinkles, no doubt the result of too much stress. He followed his wife into the front room, eyeing Stella and Lindsay suspiciously. His eyes too paused on Lindsay, who forced herself to maintain eye contact.

"They're from the NYPD." Jodie said quietly, which caused Ethan to frown.

"Can I see some identification?" Both Stella and Lindsay handed Ethan their badges, and waited patiently as he inspected then. Once he was satisfied, he handed them back, but still wore a look of uncertainty. "NYPD? A little out of your jurisdiction aren't you? Who are you anyway?"

Lindsay spoke up this time. "This is Detective Stella Bonasera and I'm Detective Lindsay Monroe." At the mention of her name, Ethan sank heavily onto the couch behind him. Jodie sat next to him, taking his hand and rubbing it reassuringly. He rubbed his free hand over his face, looking much wearier than he had when he'd come out of the office.

"I don't understand. Your parents didn't want us to say anything about our daughter being adopted, and they weren't planning on telling you and your siblings either. We kept up our end of the bargain. What changed?"

"Believe me, they weren't planning on telling me. I just found out for myself through other circumstances." All eyes turned towards Lindsay and she shifted uncomfortably. Stella picked up her unconscious message to tell the story for her. "We were working on a case back in New York and we have reason to believe that your daughter is in danger. We're not here to take her away, but she needs to be aware of the situation. If it was possible to do this without telling her or interfering in her life, we would. But unfortunately, it's gone too far for that. We need your help."

"What do you need?" Jodie spoke up.

"We will need to speak to your daughter at some point, preferably as soon as possible. And we need to know everything you know about the situation regarding the adoption, as well as anything else you think is important. And then we'll tell you what we know, and we'll figure something out."

Ethan cut in again. "Wait a minute, we're not telling you anything unless you tell us what danger our daughter is in."

"Sit, I understand your frustration but we can't really…"

"I don't care what you can and can't do. You can't just walk in here and tell us our daughter is in danger without telling us why. You'll have to give us a good reason before we'll tell her she was adopted - it's a too big a secret to divulge on a whim. It could cause serious problems."

"She's being stalked." Lindsay said quietly, but her voice was enough to shut everyone else in the room up. Sensing that she needed to give more information, she carried on. "My whole family is in danger because of one woman, a woman who feels she has a tie to your daughter. We don't know what this woman wants, but she has waited almost 17 years to achieve it and she is already here in England. She could be anywhere."

Both Ethan and Jodie went even paler, stunned into silence. Ethan's mouth had gaped open, and it was clear he was struggling to form coherent words. Gulping, he asked "What do you mean by stalked?"

Lindsay looked to Stella for guidance, and Stella nodded slightly, having given in after realising that they needed to tell the Marshall's the whole story. Lindsay pulled copies of the photo evidence from her pocket and leaned forwards, handing the photos to Jodie, who gasped when she saw what the photos contained. Ethan glanced briefly at them before turning away.

As Jodie flicked through the photos, Lindsay continued quietly. "We also received a vial of her blood."

Both of the Marshall's heads whipped back to look at her. "You see why we need your cooperation." Ethan nodded, and Jodie handed the photos back to Lindsay. After a quick glance at each other, Jodie spoke. "What do you need to know?"

***

_They arrived at the flat, and she sighed contentedly. Glancing to her right, she took in Jack's profile and smiled. Only a few more hours left. Then it would all be over, and she could fully begin her new life._

_Getting out of the car, she headed for the trunk, and pulled out the last two boxes that she would need from her old life. Everything else, everything with no value had either been sold or left behind for the inevitable squatters._

_She handed one of the boxes to her partner, who obediently carried it through the lobby and up the stairs. He always did just as she asked. He would do anything for her, and they both knew that. Saying that, she couldn't live without him either. Which is probably why they worked so well together._

_When they reached their floor, he put his box down on the inside of the door, and took hers from her, placing it next to the other one._

_"What do we do now?" His voice came out as a low growl, impatience seeping through into his tone. She smiled - he'd always been one for action. And not necessarily just in the bedroom._

_"Patience." She purred. "Soon. Soon we'll have our family." With that, she pulled him roughly in for a kiss, nudging the door shut behind them with her foot._

***

"Well, first of all, we'd need to know her name."

Jodie smiled softly. "Her name is Sienna. Sienna Michelle. We named her after Ethan's mother and my best friend." She got up from where she was sat, and walked over to the fireplace. On the mantel piece above the fire, there were numerous photos. Jodie picked one up, smiling fondly, and walked back over to Ethan. She handed the photo over to Lindsay, who smiled at the image of the smiling girl in front of her.

"Who are the other two girls with her?" She asked, seeing a small blonde to Sienna's left and a slightly older red head to the right.

"That's Miranda and Danielle. They're her younger sisters. Miranda is 13 and Danielle is 7."

"They're beautiful." Stella commented, and Jodie nodded proudly. "They're all at school at the moment." Lindsay glanced at her watch, noticing that it was almost half eleven in the morning. As if predicting her next question, Ethan spoke. "Miranda gets picked up from school by our next door neighbour and Danni gets back from school around 4ish. Sienna would usually be home at that time too, but she has a rehearsal tonight. She's in the school production of Les Miserables."

"She loves singing and acting." Jodie added. "It's all she has ever wanted to do since she was about nine."

Lindsay and Stella nodded, and the room filled with an uncomfortable silence, a silence that seemed never-ending. Stella cleared her throat, deciding that this meeting needed to be over with as soon as possible so that they could get to work on finding Nicole and protecting Sienna.

"Ok, Mr and Mrs Marshall, we need to know everything you know about the circumstances surrounding the adoption."

"Not much to tell you the truth." Jodie said. "Sarah Monroe did a brief stint were I used to work, and we became quite close. She heard that we were looking to adopt, and obviously, she was already looking for someone to adopt the baby. She came to me one day and asked me if I would adopt her baby. She wouldn't tell me why, but she said that she just couldn't look after the baby, that she'd been safer with someone else."

"We'd been trying for months when she approached us and we accepted pretty quickly." Ethan added. "Because it was a private adoption, all the paperwork and the terms of the adoption were sorted out before Sarah gave birth and the paperwork went through really quickly. Sarah went into labour slightly earlier than expected but we were ready for the baby, and we were really excited. After the birth, Sarah insisted that she didn't want to see the baby, that if she did, it would be harder to say goodbye. She stayed in hospital for about 3 days after the birth, for some form of complication, but after that, she quit her job and transferred back to Montana. She left without any warning and we never saw her again after that."

"We did what we promised. We never told Sienna that she was adopted and obviously we never planned to. There was always the possibility of her finding out herself, but the chances of that were low and if she did, it would be when she was much older and would be much more able to understand."

"Has Sienna reported anything odd? Has she mentioned anything about possibly being watched?" Stella asked.

"Not to us. Though to be totally honest with you, if she did notice something, she would be more likely to tell her friends or a teacher at school. She's always been a bit secretive about things, especially since someone she cared about died three years ago. She keeps all her emotions to herself. Don't get me wrong, she seems happy enough now, and she does well at school, and she'd popular and all that, but she doesn't get emotional about anything around us."

"Someone she cared about died?" Lindsay asked, immediately beginning to relate things from her own life to that of her newly found sister.

"Yes. It happened three years ago now, and Sienna was the only witness. One of her best friends was hit by a drunk driver when they were on the way home from school after a play rehearsal. The guy was speeding and lost control of the wheel and the car mounted the curb. Sienna managed to jump out of the way, but Alice…Alice got hit. She died instantly. Sienna has never really recovered from that." Ethan's voice was sad, and Jodie looked away. "It was painful for all of us."

"And has Sienna had any medical appointments recently, any that have involved taking blood?"

Jodie looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded. "She had a couple of blood tests done last week. The doctors thought she could be anaemic but they wanted to be sure. That didn't go down to well actually, Sienna has a huge fear of needles. It took forever for the tests to be done because she was so tense."

"One last question, then we'll leave you alone for a while. Do either of you recognise the name Nicole Turner? This is the most recent photo that we have of her." Stella handed Ethan the picture that Flack had found during his canvas, and watched as Ethan and Jodie both studied it carefully, Jodie looking over Ethan's shoulder to get a better look.

Ethan handed the photo back. "I'm sorry Detective Bonasera, I don't recognise that name, and I don't know who this woman is. Jodie, do you?" Jodie too shook her head regretfully.

"Ok then. Well we'll be off now." Lindsay stood, shortly followed by Stella. "Do you have any objection to us going and talking to Sienna at school?" The two Marshall's shook their heads in unison, and the two CSI's walked to the door after getting directions to Sienna's school.

As they were about to leave, Ethan spoke. "Detectives." Both Stella and Lindsay turned around. "Find this women who is doing this. Protect Sienna."

"Don't worry Sir. We fully intend to."

Once the two CSI's had left the house and shut the door behind them, they headed back to the rental car, only to be confronted by a shrieking alarm, followed by a few choice cuss words. Lindsay looked up in alarm, and Stella spun around to look at their car. Through the windows, they could see Flack and Danny moving around, and Stella burst into laughter. "Way to ruin a serious moment guys. Only they could manage something like that. I told you I didn't know how to turn the alarm off." Lindsay only smiled briefly, her head still wrapped up in everything they had learned, and Stella seemed to notice this, whipping out her car keys and randomly pressing buttons until the alarm stopped.

Looking back at a still distant Lindsay, Stella spoke. "Right, let's go."

* * *

_Well I hope that was ok for y'all. PLEASE please please review :)_

_Next time: We will finally be meeting Sienna, and Nicole will finally be making a move (possibly)_

_And please remember to poll if you haven't already :P_


	14. Chapter 14

_*Peeks out from behind the desk* I'm sorry that's taken me so long to update, been really busy. But hopefully I'll be able to write more over the next two weeks and there should be much more frequent updates. Hope you guys enjoy this, the action will start soon but this was a necessary chapter._

_Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. Not csi NY, Not Les Miserables, nothing._

_**Special thanks to:**_

_Cowboysteel: I thank you muchly for your betaing, even though I know you dislike Lindsay. But the help with grammar and what not is greatly appreciated :)_

_Gilo: I'm glad you're liking it hun, but I can't make any promises of course haha. I have an evil muse so we'll both have to hope she's in a good mood XD_

_And Lily Moonlight: I'm glad you like the humour, its the bit I find hardest to do (apparently I have no soul XD) and although I don't drive myself yet, I've heard that roundabouts are a bitch so I thought I'd put something about them in there. I'm glad you like the name, it took me ages to find one suitable that I haven't used in other stories but thankfully, I think I have all my characters for this one so I won't have to worry about that again for a while haha. I am aldo happy that you liked the sinister bit with Nicole - I have plans for her coming up really soon so we'll be able to find out what the hell she is planning to do. Thanks so much for reviewing all the time, it means a lot :)_

* * *

After Lindsay and Stella had returned to the car, and after a lot of mumbling from the boys about not waking them up, the three CSI's and Flack made their way to Sienna's school, carefully following the Marshall's directions. With two sets of traffic lights out of the way, and one more dreaded roundabout, they finally made it to the school in one piece. A journey that should only take five minutes by car had taken them almost 15, but Stella was increasingly proud of her achievements and wouldn't let Flack or Danny say anything bad about her driving skills.

Lindsay had said nothing throughout the short journey, and the other three were respectful of the space she needed. To show his support, Danny did nothing more than take her hand and squeeze it gently, smiling understandably at her when she nodded her head in thanks before moving so that her head rested on his shoulder. The information she'd taken in over the last few days had been almost too much, and she hadn't had enough time to process it all properly yet, but she didn't have the time to do that just yet. She still had other things she needed to do.

For such a small country town, the school was quite large. Numerous buildings were located behind the school visitor car park, and a large soccer ground was visible through the sides of two of the buildings. It was much bigger than any school Lindsay had ever gone to, except her university of course, and it was much more sedate than any of the schools the New York natives had ever gone to.

As they got out of the car and headed towards the main reception, Lindsay noticed that the school had a performing arts status - perfect for Sienna, who sounded like the outgoing performed Lindsay had never dared to nor had a chance to be. From what Jodie had briefly mentioned, the school also achieved very good results with an excellent science department - just the sort of place that Lindsay would have loved to attend when she was still in high school.

Flack and Stella led the way into the school, and after a brief discussion with the frowning receptionist and a quick flashing of their badges, the four were let into the building. The receptionist came out of a side door, still looking as if she rather disapproved of their arrival, and told them that the rehearsals were taking place in the main hall - for stage and lighting production teams to finalise the details, she said.

For the main hall, it was rather out of the way and took at least a few minutes walk there from the reception area. The receptionist stopped, informing them that the rehearsal was still going on so they would have to wait quietly at the back until it was finished, and she left them to it, walking off back the way they had come.

"Whiny old bag." Flack muttered to himself, before giving a yelp when Stella clipped him over the ear for being so rude. "You're just like me mother." He moaned, earning himself another slap for badmouthing his mother and a smirk from Danny, who looked as if he found the whole conversation quite amusing.

All four of them jumped when music started in the next room, obviously an orchestra, and Stella looked at Lindsay. "Les Miserables is a musical right?" She asked, just wanting to be sure. Lindsay nodded, and Flack shook his head exaggeratedly. "My my, something Stella Bonasera doesn't know?" He managed to duck away from her hand this time, but almost tripped over Danny's leg instead, causing him to lose his balance and fall onto the floor. The three of them, Lindsay included (for even she couldn't miss up a chance to embarrass Flack), smirked at him. "Instant Karma mate. Instant Karma." Danny commented, earning himself a glare from Flack.

Stella and Lindsay decided that they'd had enough to Flack being foolish for a while, and instead they turned, Lindsay pushing open the door. The hall was currently dark, with all of the wide sash windows covered up to maximise the effects of the stage lighting. The four of them managed to get into the room unnoticed, and they just shrugged at each other, taking a seat at the back of the room, waiting for the rehearsal to end, just like the receptionist told them they had to.

As the orchestra continued to play, someone walked onto the stage, walking back and forth in front of a makeshift background of a city. Lindsay's heart jumped as she realised it was Sienna on the stage. On her left, Danny grabbed hold of her hand, him too realising who was on stage, and Stella took her other hand. She felt a steady wave of support coming from both of them, and she was thankful. Waiting with bated breath, she couldn't tear her eyes away as her sister, took her position at the front of the stage, waiting for her cue to start singing. Sienna was wearing a long brown coat and a brown beret, and her microphone must have been clipped to her coat, and she acted as if she was alone in the room.

In the photos Lindsay had seen of Sienna, her hair had been much shorter and much straighter, and now her hair was almost down to just below her shoulders, arranged in a mass of curls that seemed too unruly to belong to her. Lindsay concluded that Sienna must be wearing a wig.

The music softened, and on stage, Sienna took a deep breath, indicating she was going to start singing.

_And now I'm all alone again  
Nowhere to turn, no one to go to.  
Without a home, without a friend  
without a face to say hello to  
But now the night is near  
And I can make-believe he's here_

Her voice was rich, the words in perfect harmony to the music. Lindsay had never seen Les Miserables before, and didn't have a clue what was going on, but Flack looked as if he was enjoying himself, silently miming the words alone with Sienna. Making a note to tease him about that later, she returned her attention to her sister.

_Sometimes I walk alone at night  
When everybody else is sleeping  
I think of him and then I'm happy  
With the company I'm keeping  
The city goes to bed  
And I can live inside my head_

On my own  
Pretending he's beside me  
All alone  
I walk with him 'til morning  
Without him, I feel his arms around me  
And when I lose my way, I close my eyes and he has found me

As the music increased the emotion of the song, Sienna clenched her fists together and held them to her chest, before flinging her arms outwards and raising her head upwards, singing out the words with such a passion that it made the hairs on Lindsay's arms stand up.

_In the rain  
The pavement shines like silver__All the lights are misty in the river  
In the darkness, the trees__ are full of starlight  
And all I see is him and me forever and forever__ are bare and everywhere the streets are full of strangers_

_And I know it's only in my mind  
That I'm talking to myself and not to him  
And although I know that he is blind  
Still I say there's a way for us_

_I love him  
But when the night is over  
He is gone  
The river's just a river  
Without him, the world around me changes  
The trees_

_I love him  
But every day I'm lonely  
All my life I've only been pretending  
Without me, his world will go on turning  
The world is full of happiness that I have never known_

_I love him  
I love him  
I love him...  
But only on my own..._

As the song finished, Sienna walked off of the stage, and the three CSI's and Flack shared glances. Jodie and Ethan hadn't been kidding when they'd said their daughter had talent.

Over the next hour or so, the rehearsal continued, and the four of them sat quietly at the back, patiently waiting for the rehearsal to be over. After a while, they began to pick up parts of the plot, and by the end, they'd not only managed to enjoy the musical, but also had a vague idea of what had been going on. They'd watched as Sienna's character was killed during the barricade scene, and had also watched as she returned for the last scene, all still amazed at her ability to perform.

Finally the rehearsal was over, and the lights came back on. A man stood up from the front row, and thanked them for taking part, before reminding them that they would still have another rehearsal that coming Friday afternoon, before the show started on Friday evening. The actors and actresses, all of which had come back onto the stage during the last song, all dispersed through the side of the stage and the two doors to the left of the stage, Sienna included, to, Lindsay presumed, go and get changed.

As the stage emptied, Lindsay made her way to the front to talk to the man in charge. He had been talking to the music conductor, but when he spied the four strangers in the room, he excused himself and came over, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Who are you? What are you doing here; this is a closed set until next week!"

Lindsay took out her badge and waved it in front of his face, enjoying it slightly as the man shut up abruptly. "I'm Detective Monroe from the New York Crime lab. These are Detectives Messer, Flack and Bonasera. We need to speak with Miss Sienna Marshall."

"Is she in some sort of trouble?"

"No. We just need to ask her some questions." Lindsay didn't like this teacher - he seemed much more concerned about whether or not Sienna would be able to perform than anything else. But then again, some people could just be like that.

The man hesitated, before calling to a girl who was packing up the instrumental music sheet. "Alice! Go and find Sienna. Some people want to talk to her." As the girl ran off down the steps to the left of the stage, the man excused himself, and carried on storing the music away for the next rehearsal.

Within a few minutes, the girl came back, with Sienna and two guys hot on her heels. When Sienna gave her teacher a questioning glance, he carelessly waved over his shoulder at the four Detectives. Alice waved her goodbyes to the other three students and grabbed her bag from one of the chairs in front of the stage, before taking off, running through the hall and out of the door at the back.

With her blood-sister in such close proximity, Lindsay froze, unsure of what she should do now that they were finally in the same room. Danny saw her shoulders tense, and placed a hand on the small of her back, invisible to anyone who happened to look at them, offering her as much comfort as he could without going over the top in public. Stella and Flack too noticed the change in Lindsay, and as the three teenagers came over to them, manoeuvred themselves into a position that would indicate that they were in charge.

"Sienna?"

The girl, who Lindsay could now see a resemblance of herself in her, nodded curiously. "Yeah, that's me. Who are you?" Despite not knowing the people stood with her, she seemed remarkably at ease, giving an air of confidence and self-assurance that would, for anyone, have been considered cocky. But she managed to pull of the whole appearance well. Lindsay guessed that it came partly with her love of performing - all performers were at ease in the public eye.

"I'm Detective Bonasera, and these are Detectives Flack, Messer and Monroe from the NYPD. We need to speak with you privately."

Sienna shrugged. "'Kay." Turning to the guys to the left of her, she said "I'll see you guys tomorrow yeah?"

The dark haired boy nodded. "You're sure you'll be alright? You got a ride home?" He eyed the Detectives suspiciously, but gave in when Sienna nodded. "Yeah I'm fine. I'll just walk home after I'm finished here; I have to go into town anyway." The two guys left, the blonde giving her a friendly punch in the arm (to which she smacked him back) and the brunette giving her a one-armed hug. Sienna turned back to the Detectives.

"So NYPD? Can't imagine what would bring you all the way out here. It's not like anything exciting happens out here."

"What do you mean by that?" Stella asked.

"Well, the town is ok. But it's boring. Nothing ever happens here - in fact the only half interesting thing to have happened here in the last year was when the school flooded. But enough about that. What can I help you with?"

Flack stepped forwards, holding out his hand. "Do you know this woman?" In his hand, he was holding the most recent picture of Nicole that he had found. For all they knew, she could have changed appearances four or five different times. But this photo was the best they had. Sienna looked at the photo for a few seconds, frowning slightly. "Nothing comes to mind. Sorry. Who is she?"

"Her name is Nicole Turner. Does that name mean anything to you?" Flack questioned. But again, she shook her head. "Can't say I have. Why does it matter? What has she got to do with me, and why is it so important that you guys fly all the way out here to come and find out? I mean, you could have phoned. Would have saved you the trip."

"Have you had the feeling like you're being followed? Has anything strange happened that you would like to share with us?"

"Strange like what, odd phone calls? No. And I've not had the impression that I'm being followed either. This is a small town, and like I said, it's boring. Nothing ever happens like that. Ever. Why do you ask anyway?"

Stella answered carefully. "I think that it's best that we discuss that matter when your parents are present."

Sienna shrugged again, looking at her watch. "Whatever." Her blasé attitude puzzled Stella slightly - there was no similarity between hers and Lindsay's at all. But then again, that may have just been the typical teenage attitude for a person who was confined to a town where they obviously had no interest. Sienna picked up her bag from the floor, rummaging through it until she came across her ipod. Pulling it out, she addresses the Detectives. "If that's everything, then I need to be off. I have to make a couple of pit-stops before I go home."

"Would you like a lift?" Stella asked, uncertain that allowing the teenager to go home alone was the best idea. Sienna frowned and shook her head. "Sorry, but I don't know you. I'm not stupid enough to get into a car with people I don't know. If you wanna talk to my parents, they'll be at home for the rest of the day." She lifted a hand in goodbye before plugging the headphones into her ears and walking off to the back of the hall, before disappearing through the door.

"Girl's smart." Danny commented. "Don't think she'll be giving Turned an easy time, that's for sure."

"One less thing to worry about then." Stella said.

"You really think we should have let her walk by herself? For all we know, Turner's already here." Flack asked. But Lindsay shrugged, answering for Stella. "We just don't know. Doesn't sound like much would happen to her outside of Nicole, but its irrelevant whether or not we should have let her go. She wouldn't have come with us. Besides, it's still light out. Nicole would be stupid to try something in broad daylight."

"So, what do we do now?" Danny asked.

"We go back to the Marshall's and wait for Sienna to come home."

* * *

_So, what did you think? Hope it was ok, I'm a bit rusty at the moment._

_Next: Sienna's finally going to find out what her parent's have been hidding_

_Please review :) I'll send you virtual cookies_


	15. Chapter 15

_**Said the next update would come sooner than the last. Hopefully, depending on reviews, there should be another update tomorrow :)**_

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing except Sienna, and all of my other OCs. And the plot ofc_**

**_Special thanks to:_**

**_Lily Moonlight - I have to say, I love your stories too, they are so different and they always make me smile when I see there has been an update :) I'm glad that you'r still liking the humour, I thought that I would need some seeing as the next few chapters will probably be tough going for some of the characters. We won't have to wait much longer until Nicole makes a move either. I'm getting quite excited at the prospect of writing some (hopefully) ok action type scenes. Am glad you like Sienna too, and I've put a bit more of her on her own in this chapter just because I think I need to show that she is just a normal kid when she has this huge bomb dropped on her._**

**_Montana Angell - I'm glad that you're liking it so far. Esp the last chapter, I was honestly worried about it. Glad you like Sienna, she is the complete opposite of me sometimes so I thought I might be a bit off in her characters, but if it works, I don't mind :P I hope this one is ok for you. And I hope the media essay went ok :)_**

* * *

_Watching out of the window, she saw Sienna come out of the school, moving her head in time to whatever music she was currently blasting out of her ipod. She had to physically force herself not to move, to not get up and run of the house and run straight over to her. She clenched her hands repeatedly, reminding herself that she couldn't do anything, that the timing wasn't right, that she needed to wait until she was truly ready. Just as she had done for the last two days. It was all a waiting game really, and she despised the game, but she kept convincing herself that it would all be worth it in the end._

_She watched as Sienna pulled her ipod, casually glancing around as she crossed the street, avoiding the cars and bikes that always seemed to clog up the road during the evening rush hour. Why that was Nicole didn't know. The town was too small and had only a few residents and even fewer shops - why people needed to travel through everyday was confusing. It didn't really matter, she thought to herself. If everything went as planned, she would be gone in the next 3 days._

_Sienna reached the path outside of the house, and the urge to open the window and call out to her was almost beyond Nicole's control. Squeezing her eyes shut, she carried on clenching and unclenching her fists, breathing heavily. When she opened her eyes a few minutes later, her emotions under control, Sienna was gone. No doubt just further down the street._

_She would have opened the window to look down the street for Sienna, but was distracted by the four people currently exiting the school. She narrowed her eyes as she recognised who they were - how had they managed to find everything out so quickly? It had taken her years to plan this and yet they had managed in less than a week. Swallowing her anger so that it bubbled just under the surface, she watched the Detectives get into their car and drive away, almost laughing as the driver almost stalled the British car on her way out of the school car park, remembering just as they drove away that she would probably have also stalled the car._

_But then again, she reasoned, the fact that his daughter was here might work in her favour. It would serve Alex right if Lindsay hated him for what he'd kept from her. If Lindsay couldn't save Sienna, if Nicole herself got to her first - which she was certain she would do - then that blame would go even further. It would break Alex's heart if his family started falling to pieces around him. Break his heart like he'd broken hers all those years before. He'd given Sienna away to keep her from Nicole, but she'd found her, and if it killed her, she was going to take Sienna away, just as punishment to Alex. The fact that she would also be hurting innocent people didn't cross her mind at all._

_And it wasn't just Alex that she wanted to punish. She wanted to punish Sarah, the wife he would never leave. She hated even now the sway that Sarah had over Alex's heart. If she hadn't have been in the way, then this would never have happened. Alex would never have been forced to choose between his wife and kids, and the women who'd become imprinted on his heart, as she believed she had. Which was why she also hated the children, hated Lindsay, hated Peter, hated Annie. If they hadn't been around, then Alex would have been able to leave Sarah behind. It was all their fault that Alex had ditched Nicole. All their fault. So she was going to make them pay. By taking away the daughter that Sarah had wanted to keep but had been forced to give away. By ruining the children's faith in their parents. _

_She would get her revenge on all of them._

_And she didn't appreciate New York's finest ruining her plans._

_She was still sitting by the window when Jack came back. She'd seen him exit the school, briefcase in hand, acting like any other normal drama teacher. He'd had the post for almost a year now, getting it shortly after she'd informed him of her plans. He was a master at forged documents - references from previous schools, plays he'd directed, school grades and reports, ID. Everything that he needed, everything she needed to make this work. After intensive research that took her years to complete, through friends of friends, bribery and pretending to be a police officer, she found out Sienna's interests, her dislikes, her friendship circles, her boyfriends, parents, siblings, teachers. Everything she'd learnt, she'd told Jack, so he could plan the best way to enter the girl's life, play off of her interests and talent, gain her trust._

_And if she didn't act fast, everything could be lost. She hadn't anticipated them finding the girl so quickly, hadn't counted on them flying out to help the girl themselves. She'd underestimated their power as actual police officers, had underestimated their deductive powers. She couldn't allow that to happen again._

_So when Jack came through the doors, anxiety written all over his face, for he too had realised why there were Detectives in the school, she just said one word, only turning briefly from the window to see him nod once in agreement. "Tomorrow." _

_***_

Sienna wasn't paying any attention to where she was going. She was walking on auto-pilot as she walked home, the music in her ears blasting out her ear drums and preventing her from thinking about anything that had happened that day. It wasn't until she was halfway down her street that she saw the car pulled up on the curb outside of her house. Not that that was unusual - her parents or her sister had people over all the time. Sometimes even her grandparents were there. But she recognised their car. She recognised most of the cars that pulled up outside her house. But this one was different. She'd seen it before, certainly. She'd seen it parked haphazardly outside her school not an hour before, taking almost two parking spaces. _Damn, _she thought, _they just won't quit. At least now they might actually tell me whats going on rather than treating me like a child._

Sighing in defeat, she walked down the driveway, reaching into her pocket and turning off her ipod, cutting the singer off halfway. It wasn't as if she needed to listen to the soundtrack to Les Miserables, she knew it like the back of her hand. She wanted to though. It helped her to calm down after a rough day.

Today had been the first day in a long time that made her feel like she wanted to pull out her hair. Double physics first thing in the morning always put her in a bad mood, especially seeing as she only scrapped a pass in her last test. Why she took it she didn't even know. Probably because her dad had convinced her she needed to take a 'serious' subject instead of only arts. Either way, she didn't care. She couldn't wait until she got the chance to drop the subject for good after her summer exams.

Then after physics, the confrontation with Celia. Usually Sienna tried to keep away from the Queen Bitch of the school, but after stealing her boyfriend three months before, and then rubbing it in her face ever since, she was past the point of caring. So when she'd made an offhand comment about how happy she made her boyfriend, Sienna had just snapped. If her friends hadn't pulled her away, she would have got herself into a lot of trouble. Then people sniggering for the rest of the day whilst she tried to keep her head high and keep what remained of her dignity.

And her stupid head of year making everyone's lives hell by installing new rules for the study room - "if you want to be here then you much work in library conditions" No talking, no music, no drinks, no nothing. _Jeez, if I wanted to work in library conditions then it would make sense to actually _**go**_ to the library we have on site_, she thought to herself.

And now, her freaking tights were ripped.

Typical teenage drama.

_It can't get much worse than this. She mused, already psyched up about being able to flop on the sofa and watch windless TV for the next few hours._

She'd managed to cheer herself up in rehearsals - she loved nothing more than to just sing and act her heart out when she was feeling blue. The fact that for a short while she could live someone else's life, be someone else who didn't have to deal with all the teenage school-girl problems. Then there was that meeting with the Detectives. What that was about she just didn't know. And quite frankly, she just didn't care that much. She had too many other things to worry about without worrying about some woman she didn't even know.

She pushed the front door open and kicked her shoes off, where they landed haphazardly on the floor next to her mother's. Shutting the door behind her, and blocking out the already cooling night air, she dropped her bag onto the floor next to the stairs, and went to hang up her coat.

It was then that she heard the arguing coming from the kitchen. Being so wrapped up in her own thoughts, she hadn't noticed it earlier, but upon hearing her name, she focused on what was being said. Making her way silently into the study, she crept up to the kitchen door, thanking whoever had built the house that the doors weren't see-through. The door was already on a latch, so she carefully stood behind the door, listening intently on what was being said.

"Is there any way we can do this without telling her?" Sienna could hear her mother speak, a hint of desperation in her voice, and she frowned. She didn't like being kept in the dark. Maybe that was why she didn't announce her presence to anyone in the room. Staying silent, she carried on listening.

"I don't think that's an option." One of the female Detectives was speaking now. "If we don't tell, she will probably find out anyway. I would think it would be better to come from you than someone else."

"Besides, we can't exactly explain the entire problem to her without mention it." The other woman jumped in, her voice slightly hesitant. "She'll want answers, like all teenagers do. I doubt she'd be satisfied with a partial truth."

"But we swore we would never tell her!" Her dad's voice. "She doesn't like being kept in the dark. I don't think she'd ever forgive us for the fact that we never told her."

"Besides she is our daughter. We want what is best for her." Her mother again.

"If something happens with Turner, then she's going to need to be prepared for it. Otherwise she might be convinced by whatever truth Turner tells her. What's best for her is probably to tell her." One of the other men was speaking now, in a calm rational voice. Sienna silently agreed with him - she would want to know now rather than being taken for a fool later on.

"Yes, that's right! Telling my daughter she's adopted is what's best for her!"

Sienna froze, her mind working overtime, dimly aware of the silence that had taken over the other room. What had her dad just said? She was adopted? No, that couldn't be right. She wasn't, she couldn't be!

Her father was still talking. "And not only is she adopted, but her biological father's ex wants to hurt her? And her biological sister, of which she knew nothing about, has arrived out of the blue to protect her?! That's best for her? I don't think so!"

It was too much for her to take in. She felt her knees give way slightly, and she caught onto the doorframe to steady herself, unintentionally knocking the door so that if flew open, startling the six occupants of the room. She saw her parent's faces go white, as well as one of the Detectives, and she felt the hope she'd been carrying that this was all a joke disappear like a small candle flickering in a wind too strong.

_So much for saying it couldn't get worse._

* * *

_Bit of a cliffhanger I know, but I thought it was an appropriate place to leave it. Especially seeing as I have almost done the next chapter._

_Hope you guys enjoyed it, and thanks for reading_

_Please review. If I get some, I'll update either later tonight or tomorrow. Promise_


	16. Chapter 16

_Told you I would update tonight. I know I said it might have been last night, but it was actually much harder to write the end of this than I anticipated XD_

_Disclaimer: Own nothing. Well, other than my DVD boxsets, which won't make me anything..._

**_Special thanks to:_**

_Lily Moonlight - I have to say, it is most freezing here, and I think I always slipped about four times on the ice on the way to school this morning XD I swear I'm dangerous to be around in cold weather. I really am glad you like it so far, its quite hard to write sometimes but if people are enjoying it then I carry on anyway, especially at the moment seeing as its near christmas :D Glad you liked the little twist I put in there, i needed a way to give Nicole some form of advantage over New York's finest who manage everything so much faster than she does. I'm not sure there is much humour in the chapter, but I think it would be quite difficult seeing as it is quite an angsty chapter. I hope it wasn't took bad taking the dog for a walk and I am waiting for your next chapter with much excitment - I do enjoy it so :D_

_Montana Angell - You're most welcome :D I'm glad you liked the last chapter, I thought just telling her straight wouldn't be as interesting so I thought I'd inject some drama. I thought I needed to put some Nicole in again, otherwise what I have planned won't make much sense, and I'm glad you thought it was mysterios, it was exactly the effect I wanted :D Hope you enjoy this :)_

_JavaJunkie4evr - I so agree that it wasn't the best way to find out you're adopted, but i thought we needed a bit of drama. Well that, and the fact that drama is something i (hopefully) do well. I hope this meets your expectations :D_

_And I don't know where my beta is currently, she may possibly be out, but anyway all mistakes are mine :D_

* * *

The room was quiet, so quiet that the dog barking three doors down could be heard. All that could be heard from the occupants of the room was the harsh and heavy breathing of four people: Sienna, both her parents, and Lindsay.

This was not going well.

In the back of her mind, Lindsay reasoned that this was not the way that someone should find out that they were adopted. Granted, it was never easy for anyone to find out. But overhearing a conversation like the one that they'd just been having had to come near the top of the worst ways to be told, right up there with being told by someone else, or coming across your birth certificate with someone other than your parent's names on it.

If anyone took a snapshot of the room at that moment, they would probably find it quite comical. Sienna was stood in the doorway, one hand over her mouth and the other clutching the doorframe. Lindsay halfway through running her fingers nervously through her hair. Ethan and Jodie both staring in shock at their daughter, their faces with what would have been a comical cartoon style open mouth. Stella, Flack and Danny all stood near the door, frozen, waiting to see what everyone would do. Waiting to see who would break the delicate silence first.

But everyone was waiting for everyone else to talk first.

After what seemed like an endless stretch of silence, Sienna broke the spell, slowly removing her hand from her mouth to drop it down to her side. Her eyes darted wildly between her parents and the two female detectives. "I'm adopted?"

When no one answered her, she asked again. "Am I adopted?" She turned to Jodie, eyes pleading, begging her to tell her that it was all a mistake, that she'd heard wrong, that something else was going on. "Mum?" Jodie bit her lip, tears glinting in her eyes, and she had to turn away from Sienna, unable to look at her as she confirmed the one thing Sienna did not want to hear.

Sienna gasped, her own eyes filling with tears. "But…what…why…why didn't you tell me?" Her voice came out as a whisper, sounding like gravel. But again she received no answer. "Why didn't you tell me?!" This time, voice breaking, she shouted out her question, so loudly and unexpectedly that most of the occupants in the room jumped.

"Sienna," her dad spoke hesitantly, not used to hearing his daughter shouting other than in plays "We wanted to tell you, we did…"

"Don't lie to me! If you wanted to tell me, you would have!"

Near the door, Flack pulled Danny aside and whispered something in his ear. Danny nodded after a moment's contemplation, and he indicated to Stella that they were going to wait in the car. The family needed to sort this out for themselves without any interference from people they barely knew. Stella nodded, casting a quick glance at Lindsay, who was fidgeting nervously next to her, before indicating back that she was going to stay behind and keep an eye on what was going on. Silently, both men left, with Danny casting one brief, comforting look at Lindsay who looked back at him, fear present in her eyes.

"It's not that simple Sienna."

"Then make it simple. Because I am trying really really hard to understand this." She looked desperate, still wanting someone to tell her that this was all a set up, that they were joking. Internally, her resolve was crumbling, and she knew any moment she was going to burst into tears. But she refused to cry in front of these people, the people who had raised her for her whole life, had kept her safe, but in the end had kept something so fundamentally important from her.

"Sienna, we couldn't. We wanted to, so many times. But we promised that we wouldn't." Ethan said, but then stopped suddenly, aware that what he'd just said was possibly the worst thing he could have said. He watched as Sienna's eyes narrowed, and felt the air tingle with the extent of her anger and pain, and it hurt him to realise that this was his fault. His daughter, albeit not his biological daughter, but his daughter all the same, was changing in front of his eyes, becoming older and more aware of the true extent of what had been kept from her ever since she was born.

"Why did you promise? Who gives you the right to keep something like that from me?!"

"Sienna, please. Please understand…"

"NO!" She shook her head, backing away slowly. "I…I can't do this right now. I need air." She dove for the back door, pulling it open with a force that seemingly surprised her. On her way out, she slammed the door behind her, but not before they heard her start to sob. Jodie too was crying, and she made for the door, intent on going after Sienna, but Stella held her back. "I think she needs some air right now. And if you go out there, she is just going to keep running. Just give her some space." Jodie's sobs just intensified, and she reached out for Ethan, who held her close, looking older than he had not half an hour earlier. As Ethan led his wife to a chair, Stella sent a glance at Lindsay who seemed to be debating internally about something. Stella frowned and waved a hand in her direction. Lindsay blinked, and came to her decision.

"I'm going to go outside and check on Sienna." Stella nodded, knowing that Lindsay was nervous about talking to her sister for the first time, especially seeing as Sienna had taken the adoptions news too well and even more so due to the fact that she didn't even know that Lindsay was her sister. But Stella also knew that if anyone should go it, it should be Lindsay. Sienna would just run away from her parents, who she was clearly not ready to see just yet, and Stella herself would have no idea what to say to make Sienna understand. Lindsay would. She had been wronged by her parents too, perhaps not in the same way, but wronged all the same. If anyone understood what betrayal felt like, it would be Lindsay.

"No!" Jodie stood, trying to fight her way past her husband who was holding her back. "She's my daughter, I should go."

"With all due respect Mrs Marshall, Sienna doesn't want to see you right now. If you want her to come back inside, then I suggest you let Lindsay go and talk to her." Stella suggested.

"But, the you'll have to tell her that you're her sister! What if she takes that badly too?"

"We'll have to cross the bridge when it comes to it. Just believe me when I say, Lindsay is the best one for the job right now." Jodie nodded, and relaxed slightly, although her eyes were still wet with tears that she hadn't been able to shed. Lindsay smiled at Stella in thanks, and then slipped out of the house. Just before she shut the door behind her, she heard Stella say "What about some tea?"

***

By this time, it had turned dark, and the lack of lights at the side of the house made Lindsay pause whilst she found her bearings. She shivered as the cool night air sifted through her hair onto the back of her neck - it wasn't the biting cold wind that she felt every winter in New York, or even the frozen air from back when she lived in Montana, but it was cold nonetheless. One thing that she could discern was something she'd missed ever since she'd left Montana - the stars. In New York, the stars were covered by cloud or the tall buildings blocked them from sight, which initially had caused Lindsay to become extremely homesick.

Feeling her way along the wall, she walked down the path into the back garden, able to see well enough to manoeuvre herself around the typical backyard items: flowerpots, children's toys, gardening equipment. It was eerily similar to her own house from childhood, and that thought made her shiver. Her childhood could have been so different.

She could understand why both her parent's and Sienna's parents had been unwilling to tell them about the adoption. She could see why it would make them slightly angst. But that didn't mean she had to like it. Even if it was dangerous, they could still have told them the truth. They could have made something up, could have told them things to make them not want to find their lost family. But in the end, they had said nothing. Had left the secret to grow, until it was too late to stop it coming out. Until it was too late the stop the repercussions that followed.

From where she was now standing, she could see Sienna. She was sat on one of the swings near the end of the garden, her back to the house. But even from where she stood, Lindsay could hear her crying. Now using the light from the house to guide her, Lindsay walked carefully over the grass, still mindful of the random items scattered about the place. Finally reaching the swing set, she sat down on the other swing, looking not at Sienna but in the same distant direction, at something that wasn't really there just so that they could pretend they saw something and at the same time avoid what needed to be said.

Lindsay didn't push Sienna - if they were alike as people had given her the impression as the were, especially in terms of emotions, Sienna would talk when she was ready. Instead she sat in silence, quietly contemplating the fact that she was sat with her biological sister. Since she'd found out that she had another sister, Lindsay could only imagine what it would be like when they finally got to meet. She'd thought up countless scenarios, some good, some bad, but all revolving around the fact that this was the first time they had ever met. But now that the moment had finally come, Lindsay was unsure of what to do. Did she just blurt out the fact that they had the same biological parents? Did she wait until Sienna asked why she was adopted? All the questions were bouncing around in her mind, making her more and more uncertain of what she should do.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours, Sienna turned her head towards Lindsay. The light from the house highlighted the tears on her face, making her seem much younger than she actually was. "Why didn't they tell me?" Her voice was like that of a small child, uncertain, hurt, bewildered. Lindsay pondered on her answer. Why hadn't her parent's told her something, in the same way as why hadn't Lindsay's parents told her something? Why had they been in this whole mess to start with? After a while Lindsay answered with a simple "I don't know." Because she didn't know. Well she did, technically. But logic and emotions were mostly incompatible. Sometimes an answer just wasn't enough, wasn't enough to take back all of the pain and anguish the question had initially caused.

Lindsay now turned her head to look Sienna in the eye. It was hard to tell in this light, but their eyes were seemingly similar, not just in colour, but in the pain and anger that Sienna had in her eyes that Lindsay was sure was mirrored in her own.

"Are you the sister that they were talking about?" Sienna whispered, uncertain of which answer scared her more. Lindsay was startled by the question, by the directness of it, but remembered that Sienna must have heard almost all of the conversation from earlier. Lindsay didn't know how Sienna would react to the news, but she knew that she had no choice but to tell her. She'd heard enough lies. They'd both heard enough lies.

"Yes." She didn't know what else to say. What else can you say to someone who's life has just been changed dramatically without no warning?

To her credit, Sienna just accepted what she'd just been told. She didn't start crying again, she didn't start yelling. She was angry, deeply angry that she'd not been told, but right now, anger would get her nowhere. And if her gut was right, her anger shouldn't be taken out on the girl next to her in the first place. She just nodded, unsure of what to do with the news.

Sienna started swinging slightly, trying to work out the agitation in her muscles that had arisen from being so tense. "How long have you known about me?" She wanted to know so badly that she hadn't been the only one left in the dark, wanted to know that someone else was as affected in this as she was.

"Three days so or." Lindsay's answer was exactly what Sienna wanted to hear. She wasn't alone in this, someone else's life had been changed by this as well. She nodded again, starting to swing higher, wanting to feel the wind in her hair, hoping that the wind could wash away everything that she was feeling. But the higher she went, even though she felt some of the relief she always felt after going on the swing, she felt a small nagging in the back of her head. She was still angry still upset, still confused. And she had so many questions.

And the woman next to her was the one willing to answer them.

* * *

_Ok, so probably a naff place to end it but oh well, I needed to stop it here otherwise it would have ended up being a really long chapter._

_Hope you guys enjoyed it :) If you did, press the little green button below :D _

_By the way, did anyone see last night's episode - SQUEEFEST much? I almost fell off of my chair whilst watching it on youtube...XD_


	17. Chapter 17

_Yay, an update before 2009. It's a Christmas miracle XD Sorry it took me so long guys, have just had a lot going on. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas by the way._

_Disclaimer: Own nothing except my own OC's and the plot._

_Special thanks to:_

_Princetongirl08 for putting my story on alerts :)_

_Montana Angell - I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I found it quite difficult to write Sienna and Lindsay's feelings, but I've put a bit more of them in this chapter too because neither of them are the type of people to just accept something like this. I agree though, I'm pretty sure that Sienna and Lindsay will become good friends in time. Well if they get the chance of course hehe. I'm not evil I swear...And yes, that episode was just fantastic. I think she did the right thing in saying what she did, but I'm still hoping for a future wedding :D Will definately make up for the suffering they have put us through. Have you got an idea what sex you want the baby to be? Hope you have a good New Year and that you had a good Christmas xxx_

_Lily Moonlight - Hope you're feeling better and that your cough has gone away. I'm glad that you liked the feelings and the atmosphere. It was hard to get it just right but I thought that the way I'd done it was the best I cold manage it so I'm gald you liked it :D I'm hoping to put a little bit more of the Danny/Flack interactions in this story, I just love it when they have their bantering sessions. I'm also planning of bringing Sid in a little bit later, seeing as I know how much you like him :) I hope this chapter was ok for you and I hope you have a good New Year and that you had a good Christmas. Can't wait for your next update :) xxx _

* * *

Lindsay sat on the swing, waiting for Sienna to stop swinging so that she could start telling her what was going on. Lindsay didn't know where she was going to start, or even what bits to include. Sienna had already had so much dropped on her from out of the blue that it seemed desperately unfair to drop more on her when she was at her most vulnerable. But if she didn't know, then there was always the chance that she wouldn't truly understand what Nicole Turner wanted with her.

By the time Sienna had slowed down and her swing had come to a stand still, now facing Lindsay with an expectant look on her face, Lindsay had decided just to tell her everything and just hope for the best.

"Like I said, I've only known about you for three days or so. But over those days I've been able to put some of the pieces together. Mom and Dad told me most of the story, and the rest I just figured out for myself." Fixing her eyes on a distant spot in the sky, she continued.

"I was about 10 when it happened. My dad, he was having an affair with a woman named Nicole Turner. Obviously at the time, my mom and the rest of us didn't even have a clue. I actually only found out about that at the same time I found out about you. Anyway, to cut a long story short, my mom got pregnant. And when she told my dad, he cut the relationship with Nicole off. Even now he doesn't know why he had an affair in the first place - he tried to say it was because we were a bit hard up at the time, that he'd been working really hard. But the more I think about it, I remember that him and mom were having a lot of fights. I was really young, and they didn't fight around me and my brother and sister, but sometimes we could tell something was up. But because we were kids, we just kinda chalked it up to a bad day and didn't think anything else of it."

"Because of the fact mom was pregnant, and the fact that me and my siblings were still quite young, my parents just put the past behind us and decided to move on. But Nicole, she took it badly. She never seemed to get over the fact that my dad had left her. She started getting really aggressive and it started to scare my parent's a lot. It got worse after Nicole found out that mom was pregnant. From what my parents told me, it sounded like Nicole thought that the baby should rightfully be hers, just like my father should have been with her. She started threatening my family, and eventually, mom and dad decided that the only way to keep you safe would be to give you up so that she couldn't find you."

Lindsay paused, needing to take a breath, finally realising how much it actually hurt to tell this story out loud. "Mom was offered a job over here in England whilst she was pregnant, only for 6 months or so, but she took it, and once she got here, she started trying to find a suitable family to take you. Your parents were looking to adopt, so our mom picked them. She worked with your mom and trusted her to take good care of you. Your parents weren't told why you were being put up for adoption, and from what I've been told they were so excited to be getting a baby that they didn't care about the circumstances. All of the paperwork and all of the forms were sorted out before you were born because it was a private adoption."

"You were born earlier than expected, but your parents were ready for you and you were just given to them as soon as they'd cleaned you up. Our mom, she stayed in hospital for a few days for a minor complication, but after that she quit her job and came back to Montana. Mom and dad never spoke of you, or the adoption, or even Nicole ever again."

As Lindsay finished her story, she glanced over at Sienna to find her staring at the ground. For a long time after she finished speaking, there was silence, broken only by the occasional car driving past the house. Whilst Sienna was working through what she'd been told, Lindsay took this chance to observe her sister. From a brief glance, you wouldn't have been able to tell that they were related - their hair colour was completely different, even though it was cut in a similar style. But when you looked closer, you could easily identify the similarities - both had a similar eye colour, deep hazel brown, framed by long lashes. Both sisters had inherited Sarah Monroe's high cheekbones and her petite frame. But what was probably most similar at that point in time was the hurt and pain that was reflected in both of their eyes.

They had similar personalities too. Whilst Sienna was a performer and Lindsay was shy, they both were tenacious and both tended to keep their own emotions inside until it came out in a burst of energy when someone really upset or angered them. Both were seemingly cautious. But what drew them together, more so than their own blood tie, was the fact that they had both lost someone. Lindsay herself was still haunted by her friends who had been murdered years before, whilst she herself was a teenager. Sienna had lost her best friend to a drunk driver. They both knew what loss felt like, and the fact that they would be able to empathise would surely draw them closer and give them a starting point on which to start getting to know each other. Sienna didn't yet know about Lindsay's friends - after all. They had only just met. But Lindsay hoped that Sienna wouldn't reject her because of their parent's mistakes.

Lindsay still wasn't sure how Sienna would react to all this information. She didn't know whether she would accept it for now and deal with it later, whether she would just demand that Lindsay stayed away from her, whether she would just break down entirely. She just didn't know.

It was a lot to take in. Lindsay knew that. She'd found some things out in the last week that she'd had trouble taking in. But no matter how hard Lindsay was taking it, no doubt Sienna would take it harder. Her entire life almost seemed to have been a lie. Everything she'd been told about her early childhood was different from the way that she would have imagined it. Lindsay just had to hope that Sienna would be able to take it all in without any long lasting resentment or anger.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours, Sienna raised her head. She didn't look at Lindsay; instead she looked up at the sky, focusing on a distant star. "When I was younger, and I fell out with my parents, I used to dream that there were other people out there who would take me away until my parents forgave me. But it was all a fantasy." She turned her head to look at Lindsay. "I can understand that your mom and dad…our mom and dad…they gave me away to protect me. I can fault them for that. But what is really upsetting is the fact that they never told me anything. Our parents, my 'other' parents. They never said one word to me. If they'd told me the circumstances around the adoption, I would have understood. But for years, they've been living a lie, telling me that I was their first-born biological daughter when I'm not. That's what I can't forgive them for." She paused. "And I suppose if you only just found out about me, you'd understand what I mean."

Lindsay nodded, thankful that Sienna wasn't rejecting her. "Yes, I know what you mean. If it helps, I don't think you need to forgive them. At least not right away. They did what they thought was best, but that won't make it hurt any less. Maybe for now, just knowing the full truth is enough, without adding understanding and acceptance on top of that."

Sienna raised an eyebrow. "You can really tell that you're a big sister. Always with the advice that always seems to help." Lindsay smiled at her. And again, they descended into silence. This time, it wasn't full of tension, but some form of small understanding, for both of them had now realised there was a bond between them. But Lindsay's thoughts turned darker as she remembered the whole reason she'd come to England in the first place. Nicole.

But before she could bring Nicole into conversation, Sienna spoke again, hesitantly, as if unsure about where she stood. "So…we have a brother and sister?" It was more of a question than a statement, and Lindsay was glad that Sienna was adapting to the idea of having a wider family than she'd originally thought she'd had. Lindsay also appreciated the effort Sienna was putting in, trying to find out more about her biological family without any malice or hidden agenda.

"Yes. Peter and Annie."

Again, Sienna was hesitant. "Could you…tell me about them?"

Lindsay nodded. "Peter is 30, three years older than me, and the typical protective big brother. He lives in Boston with his wife and two kids. Annie is three years younger than me and works as a lawyer in Washington DC." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a photo she'd brought with her. "This is a family photo that was taken at our cousin's wedding about 4 years ago. Peter is on the far left, and Annie is on my right." She handed the photo to Sienna, who studied it carefully. Sienna traced a finger over the edge of the photo, unsure of what she should be feeling. Her eyes stopped on a couple who stood arm in arm in the centre of the photo, both smiling into the camera.

"Are these two your…our parents?" Sienna kept having to correct herself. These were her biological parents as well as Lindsay's. But she didn't feel any connection to them, other than a strange distance from them and some residual anger. They didn't feel like her parents. To her, they were strangers. Strangers who'd made the person she was today.

But how was she supposed to feel connected to the people who'd given her away at birth, without even having a chance to meet their daughter? Albeit it was for her protection. But even so, she felt slightly rejected.

Lindsay was watching her out of the corner of her eye. It unnerved her slightly. And not just because she disliked people staring at her as if she was going to break. Lindsay was her sister. That small fact still freaked her out a little bit.

Sensing Sienna's discomfort, Lindsay turned away. "Yes. Sarah and Alex Monroe. They wanted to fly out with us. But I didn't think that was the best idea with everything else going on right now." Sienna laughed, nodding her head in approval. "That's probably the best thing to do. I'm not sure I'd have been able to cope with meeting them too."

Sienna continued. "Anyway, happy families can wait. What's the deal with this Nicole?"

***

Danny and Flack were sat in the car, currently trying to figure out how to navigate the different radio system. So far, Flack had managed to turn on the windscreen wipers and the tail lights. Danny had managed to turn on the radio, much to Flack's disgust, but had found that all the stations were all broadcasting trashy euro-pop, which both Danny and Flack hated with a passion.

"Damn British music." Flack muttered to himself, now trying to turn on the air-conditioning, only managing to turn on the windscreen wipers again. "And damn British cars!"

Danny just laughed at him. "Just stop trying Flack, you'll never figure it out." Flack just glared back at him. "Least I'm not scared of flying." He muttered, earning himself his own dirty look from Danny.

Before the two could start bickering, Danny's phone went off. Danny yanked it off of his belt.

"Messer."

"Danny, it's Mac. Is everything going ok over there?"

"Well it could be better. Sienna found out the hard way that she was adopted, and we haven't got a read on Nicole yet. Could take a while too. Sienna was pretty worked up about it, I think Linds is talking to her at the moment. But on the plus side, the parents know and are on the look out. How's it going over there?"

"Well the Monroe's are kicking up a storm. The parents were angry about not being allowed to go with you, but to make matters worse, the brother and sister turned up a couple of hours ago. They found out what was going on of course, and their reaction makes Lindsay's seem timid in comparison. Had to ask them to leave the lab they were making such a fuss. But I've got Hawkes and Adam going through Nicole's records, trying to establish a timeline and trying to determine where she went after the left the country. The last time they checked in, they'd called Angell, saying that Nicole legally changed her name a few months back. They took a warrant and went to find out what she changed her name to. I'll get back to you ASAP when I get something. And I re-processed the vial that was sent to Stella, and found foreign male DNA under the rim of the vial. No hits in CODIS, but I'm checking all systems. Again I'll get back to you."

"Alright thanks."

"Danny, make sure that you're all careful. We don't know what this woman is capable of."

"Will do boss."

Danny hung up, and updated Flack on what Mac had told him. They still had little to go on, which made them both incredibly nervous. All they could do was wait to see what Mac and the team could find out or wait for Nicole to make her next move. But neither option was particularly favourable.

***

After Lindsay had told Sienna everything Nicole had been doing, and what she still presumably wanted to do, Sienna announced that she needed an aspirin, claiming she had a headache that would be able to stun a bear. They made their way indoors, leaving the bitter cold and the dark night sky behind. The artificial light of the utility room made them wince, making them pause to allow themselves to become accustomed to the light again.

Sienna grabbed a packet off of the side, taking out two pills, before filling a glass of water and swallowing the pills. Just as she finished, her parents came into the room, follows closely by Stella, how looked oddly domesticated carrying the two empty mugs of tea back into the kitchen. Jodie rushed forwards. "Sienna, we're so sorry." Sienna just waved her off. "I don't want to talk about this right now. I'm going to bed." Tossing a hand over her shoulder as a means of saying goodnight, she left the room, leaving a very tense atmosphere behind.

Jodie and Ethan looked crushed that their daughter had just brushed them off like that, and they cast a helpless glance at Lindsay, who shrugged helplessly back at them. "I think it's going to take her some time to process what you just told her. She's probably going to be angry for a while, but she'll get over it in time. This is a lot to drop on her all in one go." Stella said quietly. "You can't ask her to accept it all just like that."

"She understand why you did what you did, keeping it from her. She understands that. But that won't make it any easier for her to come to terms with just yet." Lindsay added.

"But she would talk to you! And she doesn't even know you. We're her family!"

"Sometime it's easier to talk to strangers than people you love." Lindsay said gently. "But… I'm her family too. Even if we don't know each other."

The room descended into silence. Stella noticed how haggard and exhausted the other three occupants of the room looked, and took this as their cue to leave. Taking Lindsay arm, she pulled her just out of earshot of the other two. "Linds, I think we best be off now. I think we need to give them all some space to deal with this themselves." Lindsay cast a glance over her shoulder, taking one small look at the couple before nodding.

Stella went back over to Jodie and Ethan, and Lindsay barely paid attention to what was being said, instead remembering everything she and Sienna had talked about. It hadn't been as hard as she'd expected, but it hadn't been an easy day. Lindsay herself was exhausted. Shaking herself out of her revive, she caught the end of what Stella was saying.

"…be back to pick her up for school tomorrow. It would be silly to assume that Nicole would have given up…"

And that, Lindsay mused to herself, was the bigger problem. No matter how hard today had been, the next few days would be much harder.

* * *

_So, what did y'all think? Hope it was ok for you all, this chapter took me ages to get it right XD_

_I already have the next 4 chapters, so there should be updates everyday for a little while. I promised myself I would finish this story before I went back to school next Tuesday._

_Thanks for reading. If you like, please review :D_


	18. Chapter 18

_**Happy New Year guys! I'll say it now as I don't know if I'll have the chance to update tomorrow night :D **_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. Apart from my OC's and the plot._

_Special thanks to:_

_Fictionnfann for adding my story to their favourites :)_

_Montana Angell - I had kinda guessed you liked Angell so I thought I would add her in there somewhere for you. I like her - I think they don't have enough of her in the show at all. I'm glad you liked the bonding too, I think Sienna knows Lindsay is sorta in the same boat. Hope you like the update, which is actually up on time for once *dances* Have a good new year :D_

_Lily Moonlight - Glad you're feeling better and yes I had a great Xmas thanks. CSI NY season 4 on DVD would make anyone happy :D I'm glad you liked the comic relief as well, I think that when you put Danny and Flack together it's always going to be comical. I'm glad that Lindsay is seen as having a lot of wisdom, but I think because she has had a little time to reflect on what's going on she probably has a better insight than anyone else. The photo had to be added from my point of view because I think it was easier for Sienna to accept her bigger family than it would have been if she'd been expected to meet them all in person all in one go. I mean, she's coping, but I think that might be a bit too much even for her XD Hope you have a happy new year :D_

* * *

The next morning, Stella and Lindsay arrived back at the Marshall house. Lindsay sat in the passenger seat, nursing a cup of coffee that they'd bought as soon as they'd left the motel, whilst Stella had managed to drink an entire cup of coffee whilst driving through the busying streets of the town centre. They'd left the two boys back at the motel to sleep off the jet lag, knowing full well that waking them when they were in desperate need of sleep was a bad idea. They'd spent too many early morning crime scenes with a cranky Danny or Flack, and the two girls liked to keep those encounters to a minimum.

In comparison to the busy streets of Manhattan, it seemed remarkably quiet outside. To Stella, it was an alien concept - she'd always grown up in the hustle and bustle of bust cities, and to her the quiet seemed remarkably loud. But to Lindsay, who'd been raised on a rural farm in the middle of Montana, the quiet was welcome, and gave her a deeply needed peace to allow her to contemplate her thoughts in silence.

Or at least, she would have been if she wasn't still half asleep, and waiting on the coffee to kick-start her senses.

When the front door was opened by Jodie, both women were greeted with a sight that neither of them would have imagined possible. Whereas the day before, the hallway had been cleared out, today, there were things everywhere. The youngest daughter, Danielle, was still in her pyjamas, and was sat on the floor packing her book bag. Miranda came running out the kitchen, drinks bottle in hand, but stopped dead when she saw the two detectives next to the door. She narrowed her eyes at them, knowing that something had happened yesterday that had ended in a huge screaming match and a lot of slamming doors, not half an hour after the detectives had left.

Miranda was shaken out of her revive when Sienna shouted down the stairs "Where the hell is my freaking flute?!" Miranda just shouted back "Under your desk!" before grabbing her hockey stick from besides the stairs and running out of the house, shouting a hurried goodbye over her shoulder.

Sienna chose that moment to come running down the stairs, bag over one shoulder, and flute in the one hand. Her eyes were bloodshot and it looked like she'd been crying, but grabbing her lunch money from the table, she looked at the two detectives expectedly. "Come on then. If I don't leave now then I'm going to be late. And we need to pick up Libby."

She pulled open the front door, blowing a kiss at her little sister, but refused to meet her mother's gaze. "I'll be back for tea." She went outside and stood next to the car, waiting impatiently for one of the two women to unlock the door. Lindsay and Stella shot Jodie an apologetic look and waved goodbye, both trying to ignore the pain in Jodie's eyes.

Once Stella had unlocked the car door, Sienna climbed in, slamming the door a little harder than necessary behind her. Lindsay and Stella shared an apprehensive look, both a little unsure how to deal with an angry teenager. After an impatient tap on the window from Sienna, they both got into the car, both hoping not to aggravate her more.

"So," Stella began cheerfully, trying to ease the tension "Where does Libby live?" It was almost impossible not to respond to Stella's cheerful friendly attitude, and even Sienna couldn't help but smile a small smile. "Actually, we don't need to pick her up." She admitted sheepishly. "I was just trying to get mum off of my back for me leaving the house earlier than I usually do."

"Is everything ok at home today?"

Sienna exhaled loudly. "Well after you left, it went crazy. Ended up in a huge shouting match between me and the 'rents. I tried to keep my cool, I swear to you I did, but in the end, I just lost it. I just couldn't hack their endless apologies and all that schiz. Been kinda tense all morning. Hence why I made up an excuse to leave early. Although I am usually late, and it would nice to be on time for once so my form tutor doesn't get on my back about it again. I can't be bothered to deal with that as well."

Sienna put her bag down on the seat next to her, instead of balancing it on her knee, and her facial expression became serious. "So how exactly is this going to work? I mean, the whole Nicole thing. I mean, you guys can't be around all the time."

Stella nodded. "Well I had a chat with your parents last night about what we would be doing. The plain truth is that the police around here don't have the time or the manpower to devote to this, and because you're Lindsay's sister, our boss is putting in a favour for us. As it stands, Lindsay will be staying here for as long as it takes to catch this woman. Myself and the two guys we're with, we have a time limit of two weeks. Hopefully, this whole mess will have been sorted during that time. We have our team back in New York working on catching this woman, and after Danny spoke to our boss, it sounds as if we are getting that little bit closer."

"For the next few days," Lindsay picked up where Stella ended "We'll be keeping surveillance on your house and school. Nicole won't have much time, and I suppose by now, she'll be getting desperate. We have to wait for her to make a move, but she won't suspect we're here just yet, which gives us an added advantage. One of us four detectives will take you to and from school, and rehearsals and all that, and during the school day, one of us will stay with you." Sienna looked horrified at the idea of having a permanent chaperone, and Stella just had to laugh at her expression. "Don't worry. We won't interfere unless we have to. We'll stay with you during the day, but we'll just sit quietly at the back of the classroom. We won't even bother you're friends. We had to get the OK from your principal, but she's willing to let us stick around for a while. Your teachers will all have been notified."

"What about the students?" Sienna breathed "I mean, they're going to talk anyway as it is if I have a chaperone with me but I don't want to have to deal with all the stares from the nosy know-it-alls. And I really don't want Celia to know. She makes my life hell as it is."

"As far as we know, the students aren't being notified. But who's Celia?"

Sienna snorted. "She is the Queen-Bitch of our school. She gets what she wants when she wants it. She'd had it in for me for ages. So much so that she stole my good-for nothing ex-boyfriend away from me."

Lindsay winced. "Wow. I'm so glad that I won't have to go through high school again."

Sienna frowned. "Yeah well, only a couple of years left and I can leave this crappy town and school behind." Leaning back in her seat, she asked "So. Which one of you will be hanging out with me today?"

***

_Jack hurried out of the staff room, cursing under his breath at what the headmistress had just told them. Damn NYPD, always sticking their noses in where no-one wants them to. They wouldn't recognise him, they wouldn't know who he was, but they would be keeping an extra eye on Sienna. Which completely fucked up their plans._

_As if it wasn't bad enough that the Detectives were already in the town, it was made worse by the fact that one of the Detectives would be accompanying the girl at all times. How was he supposed to get her alone now?_

_Nicole was not going to be happy when she found out about this. She'd spent so long putting her plan into action, if it failed now, her anger would be uncontrollable._

_Hurrying through the halls, dodging the increasing number of arriving students, he finally got to his office. He pulled out his phone, typing in her number as he flopped down onto his desk chair, spinning it so that it faced out of the window. He opened the latch slightly, needing some fresh air to calm his nerves. From here, he had a clear view of their house just across the street. It rang 8 times before she picked up, and she looked out the window as she answered, knowing who was ringing her before she picked up.._

"_This better be good."_

"_We have a problem." He answered. He outlined what he'd just been told by the headmistress and heard her hit something in frustration on the other end of the line. Once he'd finished, he waited for her to speak, her breathing heavy on the other end of the line. Finally she exhaled. "Right ok, this is what we do." And she outlined the changes to the plan. _

_Once she'd finished, she asked him to repeat what she'd just told him, making sure there would be no mistakes. He glanced around, making sure that no one was around, before he repeated her instructions aloud._

_***_

But what Jack didn't know was that someone was listening in one his conversation. Although he'd checked to make sure no one was in eyesight before he spoke, he'd forgotten to shut the window.

Jack's conversation drifted, and could be clearly heard outside. Normally there would be no one about, but this time, someone had been walking past the window at the wrong time. Someone who for the first time was walking alone through the school grounds, waiting for her friends to arrive.

She'd only stopped because she'd heard Sienna Marshall's name. She'd wanted some gossip on her, so that she could make Sienna's life even worse. But what she heard wasn't what she'd expected. She tried to make herself believe that she'd heard wrong. But she couldn't. Now she was stuck with a dilemma.

For the first time in her life, she wished she was someone else, someone who could make her own decisions without having to have them approved by those in her following.

Celia.

* * *

_Hehe, maybe a slight cliffe. We know Celia doesn't like Sienna. So will she keep the secret to herself?_

_Please review :) All reviews are now replied to._


	19. Chapter 19

_Hope you guys all had a good new year :D Anyone made any resolutions?_

_Disclaimer: Own nothing of value. Only borrowing the characters for entertainment purposes._

_Special thanks to:_

_Withoutatracegirl for adding my story to your story alert :)_

_Lily Moonlight - Hope you had a great new year hun :) I'm glad you liked the update - because its the holidays I've had more time on my hands to write so I've been able to get a good few chapters done. Still don't know for sure how this will end though :S I have to say, I really enjoy writing from Nicole's/Jack's perspective - its a lot of fun so I'm glad you're liking that. I agree with you as well that Sienna's a strong characters - she knows what she wants but she's not afraid to listen when she needs to. This chapters more about her as a character than we've seen before, so I hope you like her. We're also going to see some more of Jack and, for the first time, some more about Celia. Hope you enjoy it :D xxx_

_Montana Angell - Man I wouldn't want to be Celia right about now lol. Or Nicole for that matter. But I'm glad you liked the chapter and I hope you enjoy this one as well :D Hope you had a great new year xxx_

* * *

Sienna sat near the back of her art class, willing the clock to move faster. Normally, she quite liked art - her teacher was hilarious and always managed to do something stupid that resulted in the class being postponed for at least 10 minutes. And she was good at arts - her creative mind helped her visualise what she wanted to do and then be able to create them in reality using materials and techniques that no one else had ever tried. Sometimes it didn't work, but when it did, it was worth it.

But today, she just wanted to get out of the classroom. They weren't even doing anything constructive - after the teacher had sent packets of powder paint flying (resulting in a multi-coloured floor and some rather interesting mixed uniform colours), the class had been on hold whilst the teacher had to clear up and half the class had to go and try to wash the paint off of their clothes before their parents saw what had happened. Sienna had felt a small sense of satisfaction when Celia got covered in red powder - the one and only class the two of them shared, and yet Sienna had felt Celia's eyes on her all morning. It was getting on her nerves.

Lindsay was sat next to Sienna, quietly working through some of her own work and occasionally sending a text message. Probably to the blonde Detective with her, Sienna mused. Lindsay had kept her promise. She'd said almost nothing to anyone whilst being at school, discounting the brief talk that she and the other Detective, Stella, had had with the headmistress. She'd kept her promise that she wouldn't say anything to Sienna's friends. Mind you, it was only second period in the morning, and she'd not been able to talk to her friends yet. Not that she was sure what she was going to tell them, she didn't really want them to make a big deal out of the fact that she was adopted until she'd had the time to process it herself. Ditto that fact that Lindsay was her biological sister. And that there was some crazy woman after her. By now, there were probably rumours flying about left right and centre about why Sienna had a chaperone with her, no doubt initiated by Celia. She would just let everyone believe what they wanted until the whole mess had been sorted out and she could tell them herself.

After what felt like a lifetime, the bell rang, and Sienna jumped up, desperate to get out of the classroom before everyone else tried to all get through it at once. Sienna was grateful that it was break time, so she could at least talk to her friends and pretend that there were still some aspects of her life which were normal. As it was, she could relax until after lunch, as for the next couple of periods, she had private study. Which was a good thing because she still had physics homework to do. Maybe Lindsay can help me with my physics homework, Sienna mused. It felt bizarre to still have a menial task such a homework to do when her whole life seemed to be coming apart at the seems.

Pausing at the vending machine to buy herself something sugary (figuring she was entitled to some sugar after everything that had been going on), she proceeded to the common room, mindful when she entered that the noise lessened immensely. Her friends rushed over to her, screening her from the view of others, and hurried her over to their usual spot in the back corner of the room. Lindsay followed and took a seat in the corner, next to Sienna, but stayed quiet, putting on her ipod so that Sienna and her friends could talk in peace, noting that Sienna had a relatively small close group of friends (two of which were the guys that Lindsay had seen the day before).

Chris raised an eyebrow at Lindsay and sent a meaningful glance at Sienna, as he'd realised that the women sat with them was none other than the woman who'd interviewed Sienna the day before. Sienna waved him off with a shrug and a glance implying, I'll tell you later.

After casting a quick glance at Lindsay, one of Sienna's best friends, Libby, spoke quietly, only loud enough so that Sienna and the rest of their group of 6 could hear. "What the hell is going on Si? Who's she?"

Sienna shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "That's Lindsay. She's…a friend. As for what's going on…I can't tell you just yet. Not until I've managed to process it all myself. And I don't really want to work through it here with all the vultures around." Libby narrowed her eyes, raising an eyebrow as she tried to determine how serious Sienna was being.

"I swear, I will tell you as soon as I can." Libby seemed to sense the truth behind her friend's words, as her facial features relaxed and she smiled. "Oh, whilst I remember, I heard some great gossip." Sienna rolled her eyes, and caught the eye of Poppy sat across from her, who rolled her eye in return. Libby was the gossip queen of the school, and everyone knew it. But when she needed to be, she could keep a secret to the grave.

And as weird as it felt, the fact that Libby had gossip helped Sienna feel like her life was actually normal. It made her forget everything else, even if only for a short while. "Go on then Libs, what's this big gossip?" Everyone in their small group (Sienna, Libby, Poppy, Alan, Chris and Sandi) leant forwards eagerly.

Libby smiled wickedly. "This should make you happy Si. I found out from Abby that last night Dean dumped Celia. Apparently, he didn't like her high 'I'm so mighty' attitude." Sienna felt the grin on her face, and although she knew it was wrong to take pleasure in someone's else's misfortune, she just didn't care. Celia had it coming to her for the way she treated people. Then a thought came to her. "Is that why she'd been staring at me all morning? I swear during art, I could feel her gaze burning a whole in my back."

Libby just shrugged. "Dunno. Sounds like she isn't too broken up about it though. Especially seeing as she was going behind his back with Hugh Wetherby behind the bike sheds last Friday night." Sienna and Poppy's mouths fell open. "Oh my god, no way." Poppy breathed. "Where the hell do you hear this from anyway?"

Libby tapped her nose and smirked. "That's for me to know."

Talk continued for the rest of the break, and when the bell went, they all groaned, all sharing the same thought that the bell always rang much too quickly when all they wanted to do was hang out and relax. Sienna was disappointed because although she had a double study, none of the others did. They all had lessons to go to. But then again, if they had stayed, Sienna would never get her physics homework done before her afternoon lesson, and as she was already struggling, she really needed to make sense of the particular topic they were working on. And it wasn't as if she would be by herself, Lindsay would be with her.

After her friends had left, Lindsay took her ipod headphones out cautiously. "So, everything ok?" Sienna sighed. " Yeah. I just…I felt normal again. I managed to forget about everything for a little while. It was…nice, for a lack of a better word."

"Well, I wouldn't worry. This whole mess will go away soon."

"Maybe it will, but that won't change the fact that my life was different than it was yesterday. I have a whole new family now. I can't exactly forget about that." Lindsay was silent, not knowing how to answer her. Sienna sighed again. "Anyway, seeing as you said you worked in a crime lab, do you think you could help me with my physics homework? I just don't get it."

***

_Jack thumbed through the stack of papers on his desk, trying to find Sienna's file. He found it in between an invoice for his car and the Les Miserables script. Flicking through it, he found her timetable. She was currently in an unsupervised study, meaning she was probably in the common room. With the damn Detective. But he knew he'd be able to get rid of her for a little while._

_Checking that he had everything ready, he detoured to the now empty drama room (having told the school that he needed the room for extra play rehearsals. Checking that the back door was propped open and that his car was out of view, and that the other doors were locked, he smiled in a nervous anticipation._

_Time to put their makeshift plan into action._

_***_

Celia sat in her maths lesson, chewing her pen nervously. After what she'd heard that morning, she's been on edge. She'd not told anyone what she'd heard, had just kept it to herself. She'd always told herself that Sienna needed to be brought down a peg or two, but what she'd overheard from the drama teacher, it didn't sound like a game anymore. Sienna could be in real trouble. Why else would she have brought someone else with her to school? Someone who was most clearly a police officer.

She didn't want Sienna to get seriously hurt. Only a few years ago, the two girls had been close friends. They'd shared secrets, met up at weekends. But then everything had changed. Sienna had become more talented at her performance arts and Celia hadn't. Celia had been jealous and eventually, the girls just drifted apart. Not long after they stopped speaking. They'd started running in different circles. And Celia had learnt that she could get what she wanted just by using her looks. Not the most dignified of strategies, but she'd been too jealous to care.

She'd thought she could have everything. Until she met Dean. But by then it was too late. Sienna already had him and they'd seemed happy. Celia couldn't take that. She'd made it her personal mission to take Dean away from Sienna. And she'd succeeded. Only to realise that it wasn't as hyped up as she'd though it would be. The game had been much more fun than the end result. Which was why she'd been sneaking around with Hugh.

She tried to focus on the maths problems in front of her, but her mind kept returning to Sienna. What would be the cost of Celia keeping quiet?

_***_

After a good hour, Sienna and Lindsay had finally got through the dreaded physics homework. Sienna now understood what she was doing, and Lindsay had helped her go over some of the other bits of the course as well. Sienna felt she might actually be able to scrap a pass in her next exam. Maybe she wouldn't fail the subject after all.

Just as she was packing away her stuff, Mr Stiller, Sienna's drama teacher and the man in charge of the school production came in. "Sienna, could I have a word?" Sienna got up, muttering something under her breath that Lindsay couldn't quite catch. She walked over to her teacher and talked with him for a few minutes, whilst Lindsay looked on.

Eventually Sienna just shrugged and walked bag over to Lindsay. Picking up her bag, she said "He wants to go over some final costume amendments. I'm not sure why, my costume is fine and has been fine ever since we sorted the costumes out three months ago. Though I 'spose he is slightly paranoid. It is his first production here. Anyway, come on. Sooner we get this over with the better."

"A man doing costumes? Isn't that a little creepy?"

"Oh no, he doesn't do the costumes. Some weird lady comes in and does them. Think her name is Julia Cartwright, or something like that. She'd downstairs in the drama studio waiting for us."

* * *

_Ok, after a long time, the action will start in the next chapter. *Cue evil laugh* Took me long enough though didn't it._

_Please review. And thanks for reading guys :D_


	20. Chapter 20

_Sorry its been so long. I know I said it was already written, but I had some changes to make and after getting rather upset with a friend today, I just decided to update without the changes. Hopefully it worked, but this chapter is not my best, so I'm sorry about that._

_I do want to thank all of those who have stuck with reading this, it shouldn't be too much longer._

_Special thanks to:_

_afrozenheart412 - Thanks for the review :) I did consider making Celia a typical bad girl, but I thought that there was already a lot of angst and all that here. I spose she isn't being as good as she could be 'cos she doesn't actually tell anyone anything. But we will be seeing more of her, so who knows where my muse will take me? Hope you enjoy this next update._

_Montana Angell - Oh dear, I hope you didn't actually have a heart attack due to my lack of update :S It would have been up much sooner, but circumstances and other stuff got in the way...anyway I hope you like this. Please don't kill me for the ending on this chapter, cos you're absolutely right, something is about to happen :S_

_Lily Moonlight - It's another update from me! I know it took a while but it's been a bit manic around here recently. You were right, the tension is just about to start, and dramatically, so please forgive me for the cliffie at the end...my muse wouldn't let me end it any other way :S I'm glad you liked Celia, when I was writing her, I was tempted to have either a bad girl or a nice misunderstood one, but I went for the inbetween, thinking it would be more of an interesting twist later on (evil laugh). And I'm happy the bit with Jack was ok, he's starting to get worried and he might make soe mistakes that give him some problems, without giving too much away. Am hoping that your internet worked itself out in the end - I know from experience that faulty connections are greatly aggravating (mine usually cuts out about 9 every night XD) - and that the review replies for the 12 Days of Xmas sorted itself out too. Hope your stories are coming along ok, and that Mac doesn't try and stop Stella :S I don't think I'll bet on her having 20 guns, I think it will be significantly more :S Am hoping to see some more of Sid and Flack (+ food ofc lol). And can't wait to see the rest of the toy animals! LOL. Hope you like this update :)_

_Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. Unfortunately. Would love to own it, but don't._

* * *

Mac tapped his pen impatiently against his desk, fighting the urge to get up and start pacing. It was early in the morning, and he could see the sun peaking through the tall buildings, casting elongated shadows through the city. Already, traffic was beginning to congest the streets, people attempting to get to work before the inevitable traffic jams occurred.

The lab was almost empty, the occasional lab tech hurrying through the corridors, desperate to clock out from their night shift so they could go home and sleep. The only other people were the remaining members of the team - Hawkes and Adam were poured over the computer, trying to search for Julia Cartwright. Even Sid was helping out, waiting patiently for the computer to give him something. Their movements were slow, inefficient, yet they refused to go home, knowing that if they didn't solve this case quickly, one of their own could be injured.

Mac had been trying to get hold of one of the team members for what seemed like a lifetime. Whilst it was early, and the day was only just beginning in New York City, it would be roughly midday in England. There was no reason for Flack to not answer his phone. Come on, pick up Flack, he thought to himself. Mac had already tried Danny, but his phone had been off, and he didn't want to try Stella or Lindsay because he knew that at least one of them would be in the school with Sienna and he didn't want to interrupt. Eventually, after what seemed like ages, Flack answered his phone.

"God, what took you so long Flack, I've been trying to get hold of you for ages!"

Flack sounded sleepy on the phone. "Sorry Mac, jet lag has been a bitch. It's always worse flying east than west. What's up?"

"Hawkes and Adam found out what Turner changed her name to."

"Go on."

"Julia Cartwright."

***

"And you're sure that's the name? That's Nicole's new identity?"

"Course I'm sure Stell. Mac wouldn't have told us if he wasn't 100% sure, you know that. Do you have a list of staff?"

Stella was sat in her car, pulled off to the side of the road, hazard lights flashing. She was pouring over lists of the staff members and other employed staff at Sienna's school "Well she isn't listed under teaching staff. Let me just check under the rest of the staff." She tucked the phone between her ear and her shoulder, and used her finger to trail down the list of people, making sure she didn't miss anyone. The school had been as helpful as they could within their confidentiality clauses, and hadn't included any lists of the students, but somehow Stella knew that Nicole wouldn't have attempted to pose as a student. She just wouldn't have been able to pull it off.

Stella read through lists of cleaners, dinner staff, independent music teachers, anybody employed to help with the school productions. Then she found it. "Flack! I found her, she's listed as the costume designer for the school production.""Which means she will have had regular access to Sienna for months."

Flack heard Stella swear on the other end of the line. "Right. I'm going to drive back to the school and see if they can provide me with an address for this woman. You and Danny try and get hold of Lindsay. Get Lindsay to take Sienna out of school now. It's too dangerous for her to be there. Get them to wait in the main entrance, and I'll pick them up on my way." Before Flack could respond, she'd hung up.

Flack turned around to face Danny, who was sat on his bed, his phone pressed to his ear. He'd been sat like that for almost five minutes, trying to get through to Lindsay. "Any luck?" Danny shook his head. "Something is wrong Flack. She always picks up."

"She could just have it on silent mode?" Flack suggested but Danny just shook his head. "No, if it has to be quiet, she puts it on vibrate and clips it to her belt. There is no way she wouldn't feel it. And her phone is definitely on, because I can hear it ringing. Something's wrong Flack, we have to get over there!"

Flack looked at his increasingly distraught friend and knew that he was right. Lindsay would always answer her phone, even if it was three in the morning and she'd been asleep for two hours. They needed to get over to the school. Thankfully, the school was only a few minutes walk away, which was good seeing as Stella had the car. "Let's go."

***

**Meanwhile…**

"I'm sorry about this Sienna, but Julia insisted. You know how…persistent she can be." Sienna wasn't really listening to her drama teacher. Her mind was elsewhere. Lindsay could see that plainly. But Lindsay too was distracted. To her, the teacher seemed nervous. Too nervous. There was a sheen of sweat across his forehead, and he kept wiping his palms on the sides of his trousers. Lindsay's cop sense was tingling, and she knew that something wasn't right. But she just couldn't place what the feeling was attributed to. It seemed odd to her that a costume fitting would take place during lesson time. And why was there only concern over one student's costume?

Once they entered the drama studio, it all happened too quickly for Lindsay to process, even for a trained cop. Images came to her like snapshots in a flick book. She saw the woman, Julia, come rushing forwards and grabbing hold of Sienna's arm, pulling her towards the open door at the back of the room. She felt the teacher holding her back. By the time her brain had caught up and alerted her that Sienna was in danger, it was already too late.

Lindsay pulled her arm out of the man's grasp, barely registering that her phone fell off of her belt and clattered onto the floor, instead spinning so that she could defend herself from any attacks he might send at her. He just backed off, and circled her, unsure of how he could take her out. She could hear Sienna fighting the woman, fighting Nicole, and she mistakenly turned, thinking that the man would stay back.

She was wrong.

She heard Sienna scream. And she started to turn around.

But she didn't see the chair until it was too late. She felt the metal leg crash into the side of her head, heard Sienna scream again in the background. She fell to the ground, her vision going blurry, struggling to think straight. Sienna, she needed to help her. She needed to get up and help her sister. The disjointed thoughts came to her, but she had no energy to help her. All her energy was going into fighting the black that was threatening to take over her vision.

But it was no use. Lindsay couldn't fight unconsciousness. Just before she passed out, she saw the drama teacher go and help Nicole. She could feel the blood welling up from the cut on her forehead. She could see Sienna kicking and could distantly hear her screaming for help over the roaring in her ears, but then, all she could remember was darkness.

Sienna kept screaming as she saw Lindsay fall limp onto the floor, kept screaming even though she knew it would be useless. The studio was soundproof for all the noisy drama activities that took place in there. And on this particular case, soundproofed her screaming from the rest of the school. Soundproofed her kidnapping.

She kept kicking, and she bit the hand that kept trying to stop her screaming. She struggled, but it was two against one, and slowly but surely, they dragged her out of the fire escape, right out to the waiting car. Sienna felt sick as the depth of planning that it had taken them just to get hold of her.

The last she saw before being bundled into the boot of the car was Lindsay lying on the floor, a small trickle of blood visible just under her hairline. Then the boot of the car was slammed shut, leaving her in the small dark space by herself. With no means of escape.

And on the floor in the studio, Lindsay's phone kept buzzing.

* * *

_Please don't hurt me, my life is already in a state :S Kidding. Sorta. All mistakes are mine and solely mine_

_Please review, makes me happy._


	21. Chapter 21

_Yes, its true, you're not seeing things. I have returned. Not that that is a cause for excitement, but what the hell XD_

_Firstly, I would like to apologise for the fact that I've been gone for a long time now, but I swear I had good reasons. Coursework, exams, university applications, and all that schiz have taken up huge amounts of time and I just haven't had the time to update. So if people are still reading this but have no idea whats going on, I don't blame you. Neither do I. Lol. Kidding, though I did have to re-read what I'd already written to figure out what the hell was going on._

_Anyway, as I have no more exams, and no more school - does a little victory dance - I will have many many hours to dedicate to writing again. So I will get these stories finished. This story is my priority and should hopefully only have a few more chapters. Saying that, I do have other things for other fandoms to post too, so its going to be a bit of a calamity for a while XD_

_This chapter is probably not as long as it could have been and probably isn't up to scratch, but its taking me a while to get back into the swing of writing something that isn't related to school or exams. If you need to re-read the previous chapters, please do :D_

_I would like to dedicate this chapter to **Lily Moonlight, Montana Angell and afrozenheart412** - thank you very very much for reviewing the last chapter. I know you wanted me to update quickly, and I didn't, so I hope you don't want to hit me with a rock, but this update is for you all :D I was slightly terrified I was going to be cyberstalked for a while there lol, but I'm glad you like the story so much. It's very encouragaing for me, and I will get the next few chapters hammered out over the next few days. I'm not sure how often I will update, but it shouldn't be too long between each update :D_

_So without any further author babble from me, here's my latest update :D_

_Disclaimer: See Profile page. All mistakes are mine. Please be kind with my mistypes, exams have turned my brain to mush XD_

* * *

After trying to distract herself for another good half an hour, Celia finally gave up. She needed to tell someone about what she'd heard. Whether she'd heard wrong, or whether she'd misunderstood, she didn't care, she just had to tell someone otherwise she was just going to go crazy. Most people didn't know it, but she was quite an emphatic person, and everytime she did something horrible, despite her steely façade, she was deeply embarrassed of herself for having sunk so low. But she so craved that the popularity that she just couldn't help herself.

Excusing herself for her lesson, claiming she felt sick and needed to go to the medical room, she slunk out into the corridors and walked in the direction of the main office. Her form tutor would be in the staff room at that point, and she was the only person Celia trusted to tell something like this to. But before she got halfway there, she thought she heard a scream. Pausing in the corridor, she waited silently. But on hearing nothing for a few seconds, she carried on.

Before she'd taken a couple of steps, she heard another scream. She was positive that she'd heard this one. Of course it could be a drama lesson, but she'd been told earlier that the drama studio was out of action until further notice. Something to do with costume rehearsals. Wanting to reassure herself that it was indeed just a lesson, she took a detour towards the drama studio. As she got nearer, she heard a door slam, and felt a shiver go down her back. She knew something was wrong. She no longer heard screaming, but she could hear a buzzing, like a mobile phone vibrating against a wooden surface.

She peered around the door to the drama studio, and gasped at what she saw. The lights were off, but there was enough light coming in from the hall for her to see inside. No costumes anywhere in sight. Instead all the saw was a woman lying prone on the floor, a broken chair next to her, and she had a small pool of blood forming near the floor. The painted black walls leered menacingly and the phone was ignored as Celia stumbled forwards, checking that no one else was around before she knelt on the floor, turning the woman into the recovery position. It was only then she realised that this was the Detective that had been hanging around with Sienna all morning. Shit.

Celia's instincts kicked in - she'd taken a first aid course a couple of years back and could still remember the basics. She made sure that the Detective's airways were clear, and checked that she was still breathing. Relaxing slightly when she felt a weak pulse, she paused to consider her options. It looked like the woman had been hit over the head, which meant she could have a concussion (which was more than likely if she was unconscious), and it would be dangerous for an untrained teenager, such as Celia herself to do anything.

It only occurred to her then that if the Detective, the one who was keeping an eye on Sienna, was unconscious, then where was Sienna?

Celia hesitated before getting back onto her feet. She needed help. Sienna needed help. Checking on the Detective one last time, she turned on her heel and flew through the corridors, back on course for the main office. She needed to alert the headmistress, call the paramedics, needed a first aid kit at the very least. Thankfully, everyone was still in lessons, so the corridors were empty, and she ran unrestricted through the halls.

Until the rounded the last corner near the main entrance and ran straight into a man. She felt herself falling backwards, until an arm shot out and steadied her. "Help." She wheezed, slightly winded from the running. Chancing a glance upwards, she saw a man staring at her, a frantic look in his eyes. His eyes were a deep blue, and were framed by glasses, and from his body language, she could tell he was very worried about something. It was when she looked back down that she caught sight of the badge on his belt. NYPD.

He was with the other Detective.

Celia gasped for air again, before waving her hand frantically over her shoulder, noticing as her headmistress appeared behind his head, looking immensely concerned and serious.

"Female…Detective…Drama studio…head injury….blood…need first aid." Before she could even finish her sentence, the man had taken of at a run, back in the direction from which she'd just come.

The headmistress took her arm instead and led her over to the bench besides the reception desk, allowing her to catch her breath. Celia distantly heard a car tires squealing, and looked up to see a bright, blood red car speeding out of the car park.

***

Danny and Flack had arrived at the school two minutes after they'd left the motel, Danny still trying to get hold of Lindsay, and Flack talking rapidly to Stella. Flack hung up and shouted at Danny, "Stella is a couple of minutes away." Danny nodded as best as he could whilst running, but his attention was still diverted towards the person who was not answering her phone.

Flack was now on the phone to Sienna's parents, insisting that they try ringing her on her mobile. Jodie stayed on the phone to Flack whilst Ethan tried Sienna's mobile, but he got no answer. "Keep trying." Flack called down the phone before he hung up.

Just as they got to the car park outside the school, a red fiat came shooting out of the exit and took of down the street. Flack skidded to a stop and squinted after the car, determined to get a plate. He got GH5 before the car sped out of sight. Danny ran into the school, surprising the receptionist witless when he demanded that he speak to the principal immediately. The headmistress came out upon hearing all the noise.

Flack explained the situation and the headmistress's expression became graver by the second. "She was in this morning, insisting that she finalise the costumes before tomorrow's performance. I didn't even think anything of it."

"Where was the fitting meant to be?"

"The drama studio. Second left and the third door on the right." Danny took off down the hall, and the headmistress turned to the receptionist. "Call the police. Tell them there's been a kidnapping and get them down here ASAP."

***

Danny skidded down the corridors, mind solely focused on finding Lindsay. He wasn't paying any attention where he was going - although he was repeating the directions to the drama studio over and over in his mind - and he ended up crashing into a girl that came round the corner at the same time, with the same expression of panic and too much responsibility etched into her face. He automatically reached out a hand to steady her, and he would have continued his running through the halls if he hadn't heard her desperate plea for help.

He waited, despite his instincts telling him to carry on, to find Lindsay, knowing deep inside that this girl knew something. How he knew that, he wasn't sure, he just knew. Maybe it was the expression on her face (there were unlikely to be two incidents in the same school in the same day, especially seeing as nothing ever seemed to happen in the town).

As good as his intentions were to help this girl, at that moment, Lindsay was much more important. As soon as he heard what she said "Female…Detective…Drama studio…head injury….blood…need first aid", he took off again, leaving the girl in the capable hands of the school headmistress.

It took him another couple of minutes to find the drama studio, missing it the first time because the room was dark and he was moving too fast to take a proper look inside. When he realised he'd gone to far, he turned around and backtracked, this time managing to find the right room.

When he saw Lindsay lying prone on the floor, his heart almost stopped. He ran into the room and fell down besides, checking her breathing and her pulse automatically, as if to reassure himself. He was dimly aware that she had been moved into the recovery position, most likely by the girl he'd crashed into not minutes before. But he was much more focused on the small cut on Lindsay's forehead. The cut itself wasn't too bad, but there was a large amount of swelling around the cut and bruises were already starting to form. Other than that, and the fact she was unconscious, there appeared to be no other injuries.

Taking his own mobile phone out of his pocket, with trembling hands he dialled the emergency services. He had to type the number in twice because the first time, he dialled 911 before remembering in England they had a different emergency services code.

"999, what is your emergency."

"I need an ambulance!"

***

Flack had spoken to the receptionist who'd pulled up the recommendations for the costume designer. The school was much better than most in that it kept paperwork on anyone who'd ever been employed, and the production staff were no exception. Flack had scanned the list whilst the police chief waited patiently on the other end of the line, looking for who had recommended Julia/Nicole, whatever her name was, remembering in the back of his mind that she would have had to have had a partner to have made the whole plan work.

Jack Stiller.

Flack waited impatiently, hoping that the police chief would be able to link the red fiat with either Julia or Jack Stiller through the partial licence plate he'd collected.

"Got it. Car is registered to a Mr Jack Stiller. Red fiat. GH5 XY67. It's got a GPS signal on it, and it's been activated remotely. Can't say how long it will stay on though. Some of my men will be with you shortly, they are much better equipped for a car chase. They will pick you and your colleague up on the way past."

Flack thanked him profusely and hung up, and ran out of the school entrance, throwing a thanks to the bewildered and confused receptionist over his shoulder as the door slammed heavily behind him. He could hear the sirens coming closer, and he felt the adrenaline pumping around his body. This was what he enjoyed doing. Chasing perps. He felt like he was back in New York.

***

Whilst Flack was in the school office, Stella came speeding into the school car park. She'd finally managed to get the hang of the British car, and was now able to drive just as well as she had done before (except with the roundabouts). As she pulled up outside the main entrance, Flack came running out. Stella opened the door and jumped out, locking the door securely before making her way over to Flack.

He filled her in as they were waiting for the police to arrive, which didn't take long. Two cars flew past, sirens blaring and lights flashing, causing all traffic to move sharply out of their way. The third car pulled into the car park, sirens and lights going still, waiting for the two detectives to get in.

Flack and Stella got into the car, Flack in the front, Stella in the back, much to her distaste. She was thankful though, as the police has disabled the child locks on her door so she would be able to get in and out by herself.

The car sped off before either of the doors were fully closed, narrowly missing a collision with another car, the sound of brakes screeching ringing in their ears, as they shot off out of the car park entrance, tyres squealing in protest against the tarmac, leaving a faint burnt rubber smell behind. Stella braced herself against the car door and the back of the seat, desperately searching for the red car Nicole had taken off in. The mesh between the front of the car and the back seat made it more difficult to see clearly, but Stella didn't give up, eagle eyes scrutinising every car they passed.

* * *

_Hope you liked it :D I tried not to leave it on too much of a cliffie, I'm not that mean :P Please review and let me know if there are people still reading this after my extended absence._


	22. Chapter 22

_Nope, you're not seeing things. Second update the day after the first. Can't promise that it will always be that way, but I'll try :D I will get this story finished._

_Thank you so much if you're still reading this. I know its been a while, and you've probably all forgotten whats going on, but it means so much that people still want me to continue :D_

_Special thanks to:_

_**afrozenheart412:** Yep, I'm still alive, although for a while there I didn't think I'd make it through the exams lol. And phew, I was worried I'd be dodging rocks for ages, and lets just say my reflexes are poor so it would hurt haha. I'm glad you thought Celia did the right thing: I could have made her ignore everything and just carry on regardless, and Danny would still have found Lindsay, so it wouldn't have altered the story that much, but I think it was right for Celia. She's not a bitch deep down, and I wanted to show that. And lol, I'm glad you liked Stella's driving. I don't drive myself so I don't know how hard it is, but my dad always complains about driving in a foreign country so I assumed it would be hard. I thought that the slight comic relief with Danny and the wrong number would be good; I know I do the same thing, even though I live in England, I always rattle off the US EMS code XD How embarrassing for me. But don't worry, I will definately finish my other stories too, but I'll do it after I've done this one. I've got a couple of ideas floating around for some and then some of the others I'm stuck on, but I'll get there. Hope you like the update :D_

_**gsrfan02: **It had been a while I know, but my life won't start being crazy again until september, so until then I'll most certainly be bringing on the updates :D And er, if you thought the last cliffhanger was bad, you may not like the ending to this chapter :S But oh well, what can I say, I like cliffhangers *evil laugh* Hope you enjoy the update :D_

_**Montana Angell: **Yep, I'm back so its time to party! Lol. Oh your review really did make me laugh, and it really brightened my day. Its good to know I won't be cyberstalked, I did have a few nightmares about that :S Kidding lol. But yes, I agree that Nicole is awful, but don't worry, its about to go tits up for her. And I'm glad that you felt sorry for Lindsay, I was worried I made her too weak. Its good to know I didn't :D Enjoy!_

_**Lily Moonlight: **Phew, I avoided another rock. I can come out of hiding now lol. Thank you, hopefully the exams went ok and I'll get the grades I need. Won't know until mid-august so until then, I'll be cramming in as much writing as possible. You're most welcome for the dedication, its the least I can do when you review every chapter and then I disappear without warning for 6 months lol. Am glad you liked the chapter, I had to re-go over it, and I added a few little things in, like the driving, to make it more interesting. Good to know it paid off :D I'm glad you thought Celia did the right thing - she has a lot of amends to make, and I think that hopefully this will start her on that path. Not quite sure yet cos I've not got that far yet haha. Hope you're not too frustrated by the cliffie :S I can be a bit nasty sometimes *evil laugh* Hope you enjoy the update, and I'm off to catch up on your Wild West story - I have a feeling I've gotten very far behind XD_

_Disclaimer: See profile page_

* * *

Danny sat at Lindsay's side, continually checking her vitals, desperate for some reassurance that she was okay. Her pulse wasn't was weak as it had been, and her breathing was even, but that didn't stop Danny worrying. His overprotective nature always came to the forefront when Lindsay was involved, even more so when she was injured, and he had to stop himself checking her pulse again. Instead, he gently brushed her hair back from her face, wincing when he saw the blood covering the thick strands.

"Come on Montana. Wake up."

He couldn't hide the pleading note in his voice, but even if there had been someone else there, he wouldn't have cared. Lindsay was the one thing that made him feel weak, the one vulnerable spot he had, and he wasn't going to deny it.

He cursed himself that he hadn't kept a closer eye on Lindsay, that he hadn't been there when she needed him. When her sister needed him. Danny knew that family was one of the most important things to Lindsay, and even though she barely knew this girl, nothing could break the bond between them. For Lindsay, he would do anything he could to help save her family. The girl, Sienna, she wasn't a bad kid. She'd just been thrown in at the deep end of a bad situation, one which no one saw coming until it was too late, and despite the circumstances, she'd been coping fairly well. Danny hoped that she'd be alright, that she wouldn't be hurt. Lindsay would be crushed, and would most likely blame herself for not being able to stop it.

He lightly examined the small cut on her head, noting with no small amount of relief that the bleeding had stopped. The cut itself wasn't too deep, and probably wouldn't require stitches, but he would be grateful when the paramedics checked it out. He squeezed her hand, and jumped when Lindsay moaned, her eyelids fluttering before fully opening to show her chocolate brown eyes.

"Lindsay?"

She moaned again, the hand that wasn't encased firmly in Danny's instinctively reaching to her head, the source of her pain. She tried to sit up, but almost flopped back to the floor again, not yet alert enough to keep herself upright.

"Easy there Montana. Let me help ya." He helped her sit up, and she leaned against his shoulder heavily, eyes wrinkled tightly shut against the throbbing pain in her head. Her mind felt foggy, and she struggled to remember what had happened. She remembered being in a car…a school common room…something to do with costume fittings…a play?

Realisation hit her like a spark of electricity. Sienna.

She remembered the fight. She remembered the drama teacher and the costume assistant. She remembered the fight, being too late to stop the metal chair colliding with the side of her head. But what she remembered most, before her memories became blurred from unconsciousness, was Sienna's scream.

"Where is she? Where's Sienna?" She desperately searched the room, hoping her sister would be sat off to one side. But no such luck. Danny was the only other person in the room.

Danny hesitated, and it didn't go unnoticed. "Where is she?" Lindsay demanded again, voice rising in indignation. The panic started to build, and it was getting harder to control.

"We don't know Linds. When Flack and I got here, you were already unconscious and Sienna was gone. Flack's tracking down Turner - Mac rang and gave us her new identity. We think she took off with whoever's been helping her."

"It was the drama teacher. He helped her. He told Sienna that she was needed for another costume fitting, so we came down here, and I knew that something wasn't right. He looked so guilty, but I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong. But then when we walked through the door, the woman, she grabbed Sienna and the guy grabbed me. I tried to fight him off, but I turned my back on him when I heard Sienna scream, and he hit me with something heavy. A chair I think. The last thing I remember was the guy running over to help Nicole." She trailed off, guilt covering her features. "Its my fault. I should have known something was wrong. I should have done something!" She started to cry, which only made her head hurt even worse than it already did.

"Hey hey, this is NOT your fault. You couldn't have known anything was wrong, and you certainly couldn't have predicted that Sienna's teacher was the one behind this. He fooled everyone."

"But…"Lindsay began.

"No, no buts. You are not at fault here. Blame those who caused all this mess, on Nicole and the man helping her. Put the blame where it should be, but please do not blame yourself for something you couldn't control." Lindsay's soulful brown eyes sparkled with unshed tears, but she nodded, wincing at the pain. Danny rested his forehead against hers gently, ever mindful of the cut.

"Don't worry Linds. We'll find her. She'll be alright."

****

Flack sat in the passenger side of the car, carefully scanning the road for any sign of the red fiat. The adrenaline was pumping through his system with the thrill of the chase and the desperation to prevent something happening to Lindsay's sister, but he had nowhere to displace the nervous energy. His hands were twitching nervously, fluttering towards his gun then away again, finally twisting them together in his lap - he was so used to driving the car himself in situations like this that sitting still didn't come naturally to him anymore. He didn't like not being able to do anything, and waiting was certainly not easy. He was a man of action, and he hated that in this case, one so much closer to the team than anything they'd faced since Aiden had died, he had to sit on the sidelines and observe. The British police had jurisdiction here, and his badge, whilst sending fear into anyone on the streets of New York, meant nothing here, other than indicating he was a man very far from home.

He met Stella's gaze in the mirror, and he could see the same expression of concern and determination in her eyes that he felt on his own face. They had both come to the same realisation that Danny had: family was important to Lindsay, and even if she hadn't known this girl very long, and there were still problems to sort out between her and her family back in the States, if Lindsay lost her sister, she would be devastated. Especially as she'd already lost so many people in her life.

Flack turned his eyes back to the road, anxiously looking for something. In fact, the detective who was driving would know more about possible escape routes, and local airports, and all that type of thing than Flack would ever know. In New York, it would have been a different matter. Flack chided himself for comparing everything to his life back home - he wasn't there right now, and he had to deal with that, following the rules and regulations that governed this country. All the same, he'd never move here.

It was as he was having this internal discussion with himself that he saw a glint of red on the road in front of him. Of course, they had passed multiple red cars, but this was the only one that wasn't moving out of the way of traffic, weaving dangerously between the lanes and the other cars that had slowed down to allow the police cars to pass by.

"There!" He pointed, and in response, the driver sped the car up, gaining more ground than the fiat due to the fact that the other cars had moved out of the way once they'd heard the blaring sirens approaching. In a short matter of time, they were right behind the fiat, which had tried to increase its speed but being an old make, was struggling to maintain the speed it was already travelling. The car was weaving dangerously from side to side, swerving over the other lane and almost totalling three other cars in the process. It looked like whoever was driving was losing control of both the car and their calm.

However, now they were at a stalemate. They couldn't force Jack's car off of the road because they were travelling at much too high speeds for that to work without injuring anyone. It was obvious that Nicole wouldn't slow down - they could see it was her driving, head continually twisting round to estimate the distance between her and the cops. It was then that the car would skid and swerve, and Nicole would jerk around, desperate to keep control. All they could do for now was give chase. Flack gritted his teeth in frustration.

***

The paramedics had finally arrived, and Lindsay was still sat on the floor of the drama studio, waiting impatiently for the all clear. The cut on her head hadn't required any stitches, and the paramedic had said that she didn't have a concussion or any other injuries, so Lindsay was raring to go. Danny however, had other ideas. As concerned as he was about Sienna, Flack and Stella were on Nicole's tail, and Lindsay was his first priority. She had a tendency to be reckless, and he didn't want her to put herself in danger or suffer more than she had to if he could prevent it.

Instead, he sat next to her on the floor, holding her hand and glaring at her everytime she tried to make out she was okay and tried to leave. If he had to restrain her by holding her in his lap, he would do it. Mind you, he would use any excuse just to do that.

The headmistress had come in to inform them that Flack and Stella had taken off with the British cops after Nicole and Jack, and also to apologise to Lindsay for not seeing the link any sooner. Lindsay had graciously accepted the apology, desperate to get out of there, and the headmistress had gone on her way to talk to Celia again. She couldn't get her head around the fact she'd employed not one, but two, dangerous members of society. Danny watched her leave, feeling sympathetic, because he knew she'd be beating herself up for days, and much, much longer if anything happened to Sienna.

"Alright love, you're fine, but you'll need to take it easy for a while. If you experience any dizziness, nausea or anything out of the ordinary, you'll need to see a doctor."

Lindsay nodded, scrambling to her feet, and Danny jumped up to steady her in case she fell. "Thanks Doc." They both smiled at the paramedics over their shoulders, and took off towards the car park, Danny keeping a close eye on Lindsay, who glared sideways at him. She was still angry that Danny had made her wait for the paramedics approval before she could leave, but her gaze softened when she took in his anxious expression. She couldn't be mad at him for caring about her. And she knew that she would have done the same if the roles had been reversed.

They had almost made it to the car Stella had abandoned outside the front entrance, parking skewed so that the car took up two spaces, when Danny's phone rang, breaking the silence. He fished the keys out of his pocket, handing them to Lindsay, and checked the caller ID.

"Flack? What's up? What's going on?"

In the background, he could hear shouting, sirens and something else that sounded suspiciously like fire. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lindsay watching him anxiously, hands wringing together nervously. "Flack?"

"Danny," his voice was quiet, and thick static made it hard to hear, so Danny had to concentrate much harder on what was being said. "There's been an accident."

* * *

_Don't hate me :S But please review!_

_While I have the opportunity, I would like to advertise **xXBoulevard-of-Broken-DreamsXx. **I'm betaing for her, and she has a really good Smacked story, so go and read it and show her some love!_

_I would also like people to know that whilst I WILL be updating and finishing my other stories, I will be posting stories for other fandoms, mostly Supernatural and Twilight. If you enjoy that stuff, please read it, but if not, and I'm on your author alerts, you might want to remove me and use story alerts instead. I won't be offended, I just don't want to cram your inboxes with stuff you don't want to read. I will be posting two oneshots as soon as I finish this story, so I'm just giving some advance warning. :D_

_Next update should be done by tomorrow :D_


	23. Chapter 23

_Oops, I may have told a little fib. I know I said I would update on Thursday, and that its now Saturday, but I promise I totally have a good reason. I couldn't decide how I wanted to end this chapter, which obviously is very important, and I also forgot that I was going to be out on Thursday and Friday and wouldn't be able to finish my update XD But, I finally got it done, and am hurriedly posting this before my friend picks me up and takes me away for a night out *dances*_

_Anyway, here is the next update. Hope you guys enjoy it :D_

_**Special thanks for reviewing to:**_

_Lily Moonlight - I promise you I won't go disappearing again, at least not without warning. It might go a couple of days between updates but I'll always come back. You'll start to get sick of me lol. And yeah, I will continue with CSI NY stories on top of my others so its going to be a busy summer for me. I had to put the bit in about the headteacher; I think that sometimes the minor characters don't get enough attention, and if that were to happen to someone, it certainly wouldn't be something they easily forgot about. And yay, I'm glad you liked Danny and Lindsay. I find their relationship very interesting; neither really likes to be taken care of, they just seem to accept it, and dare I say it, even like it when the other is watching out for them. It balances them really well as characters :D I do realise that I'm cruel for doing what I did, but oh well, I'm a slightly evil person *evil laugh* Kidding. Sort of. Lol. Hope you don't think I'm too cruel for this :S And yes, I did find something to eat after reading your update. It was Flack's fault I was snacking! Lol._

_Montana Angell - I've not noticed anyone watching me yet, but I'm definately on the look out for flying rocks lol I hope your coursework is going well and that I've not traumatised you too much...you may hate me even more for the cliffie at the end of this chapter so get the coursework done first haha. Hope you're not too mad :S_

_afrozenheart412 - I'm glad you're liking the character's thoughts and whatnot. I find some of them hard to write, like Flack, so I'm glad that you like it :D I do think though that Lindsay is Danny's biggest weakness, which is why I had to mention it, but I did agree with you that she's also his greatest strength. They are perfect for each other! I promise I won't keep you waiting too much longer about how Sienna is. Honest. Enjoy :D_

_Sweet LIL loz - Heya, welcome to the story :D Thanking you greatly for reviewing. I'm glad you liked the story, and I'm very happy that it totally took you in, I was wondering whether or not many people were still all that bothered about this story, so I'm happy to know I have an audience. I'll try not to keep too long between updates, promise. Hope you like this update :D_

* * *

"An accident? What the hell happened?!" At his words, Lindsay's face paled dramatically, her skin turning almost white, and her eyes widened, torn between desperation, confusion and worry. Her fingers clenched around the keys, and she barely noticed that she'd clutched them so tightly that her fingers started to bleed. The pain was insignificant in comparison to her fear that something horrible had happened to her sister. Danny had to wedge the phone between his shoulder and his ear so that he could uncurl her fingers long enough to remove the keys so that she didn't injure herself further. He rubbed soothing circles on the back of her hand, hoping it would help her relax a little until she knew exactly what the problem was, but one look at her beautiful brown eyes, widened in terror and apprehension, told him all he needed to know.

"Flack?" The hesitation made it blatantly obvious who was involved.

"We were following Turner, and when she saw us behind her, she lost her cool. Started swerving all over the lanes but at the same time, she sped up, trying to get away from us. She kept looking behind her to see how far up her ass we were, and she did it one too many times. She lost control of the car, and tried to yank the wheel in the other direction, but one of the tyres burst due to the friction, and the car ended up ploughing straight into a tree near the side if the road. By the time we got there, the engine was already in flames. Sienna was in the trunk."

"Is she alright?"

Again, another hesitation. Lindsay gripped Danny's hand in response to the silence, so hard that it was almost painful, but she couldn't relax her grip.

"We got her out of the trunk before the engine exploded. But the car was going too fast when it hit the tree, and Sienna obviously wasn't wearing a seatbelt. I'm not sure what the extent of the injuries are yet - she was whisked off to the hospital within minutes - but it doesn't look good Dan."

Danny exhaled heavily. "Which hospital?"

"St. Basils." Flack spieled off a list of directions from the school. "Stella's heading over there now in the ambulance. I'm going to inform the parents but will meet you at the hospital later. I've also gotta call Mac and let him know what went down."

"What about the other two?"

"The guy's dead. The angle that the car hit didn't give him a chance. Turner was unconscious when we got there, but because our priority was Sienna, we didn't get to her in time. The engine exploded before we could get her out."

"She's dead?"

"Looks that way." Flack's voice was cold, unsympathetic. "Emergency services haven't determined how safe the scene is yet so no bodies have been removed from the car. I'll let you know as soon as I do."

"Thanks Flack. We'll see you at the hospital."

"Yeah. One last thing Danny. You might wanna prepare Linds for the worst. I don't know if she'll make it."

"Alright, thanks." Danny hung up, carefully avoiding Lindsay's penetrating stare as he put the key in the ignition and peeled out of the parking lot. He remembered Flack's instructions and drove as carefully, but as quickly as he could.

"Danny, how bad is it?" Lindsay's voice shook, her fear clearly resonating in her words. When he didn't respond immediately, her composure broke. "Dammit Danny, just fucking tell me!" Her voice broke at the end, and the tears she'd been holding back since she'd come around spilled over her cheeks. Danny took her hand and squeezed gently, offering his support.

"Turner lost control of her car and ended up crashing into a tree. Sienna was in the trunk, and they managed to get her out of the car before the engine exploded, but they have no way to know how bad her injuries are. The force of the impact would have done some serious damage and they don't think the odds are good. Flack doesn't think she's going to make it."

Lindsay started sobbing, hiding her face on her hands. Danny wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and comfort her, but he was torn. Should he stop the car and give her the support she needed, or should he just get her to the hospital as fast as he could?

"Just get me to the hospital." How she knew what he was thinking was beyond him, but he stepped on the gas and sped towards the hospital, blowing through three red lights and earning himself a host of angry car drivers beeping him. But that didn't matter. Right now, he needed to get Lindsay to her sister.

***

Stella sat in the back of the ambulance, bracing herself between the partition and the gurney as they sped quickly through the traffic, not taking corners as slowly or carefully as maybe they should. But they didn't have time to be cautious. Sienna had already flat-lined twice, and it was an uphill struggle to keep her heart beating. Her breathing was heavily irregular and sounded laboured, the breaths thin and raspy, rattling in her throat everytime she inhaled. The most likely cause would have been smoke inhalation, but there could have been a number of causes. From a cursory examination, the paramedics said she had a collapsed lung and the one that remained intact wasn't faring so well. There was also extensive internal bleeding from the impact with the tree that had flung Sienna forwards at such a force that it had immediately rendered her unconscious, and minor burn damage caused by the fire.

She'd never regained conscious after the accident.

Any other injuries couldn't really be determined until after they got her to the hospital, but to Stella, it looked like she had a broken arm, and a dislocated shoulder. Stella shook her head sadly, gripping tightly to Sienna's limp hand. Poor kid. She never asked for this. She didn't deserve this.

Stella couldn't reconcile the image in her head of the girl that she'd met not a few days before, the girl who'd been so full of life and determination, with the prone figure in front of her. The differences between the two were almost incomprehensible. She didn't want the parents, Ethan and Jodie, to have to see their daughter like this. They should be able to keep the image of their daughter alive in the forefront of their minds, not the image of this broken child. A child, Stella reminded herself darkly, broken in more than one way.

She didn't know whether or not Sienna would ever truly forgive her parents for keeping the fact that she was adopted a secret. Although it wasn't the same thing, Stella had never truly forgiven her own parents for leaving her at the orphanage, with no explanation and no chance for her to ever figure out who they were. Even as she'd grown up, and had carers who deeply cared for her, that pain had never truly gone away. Sienna had been lied to for seventeen years about who she really was, who her parents really were. There had been multiple occasions where Ethan and Jodie could have told her the truth, and yet they held their tongues and stayed quiet. If she'd been made aware sooner, then maybe this whole mess wouldn't have come as such a shock.

Even if she didn't forgive her parents, or took years to do so, all Stella knew was that she deserved the chance to stay and decide that for herself.

***

When Danny finally screeched into the hospital car park, Lindsay was gone even before he'd shut off the engine. She ran into the hospital, looking around frantically to try and get her bearings. She was saved from wasting time asking a nurse where to go when she saw Stella heading towards her from one of the corridors to her left, neatly avoiding the other patients and doctors but still managing to weave her way towards Lindsay at an incredible rate.

"How is she?" Lindsay asked anxiously, pleading eyes watching Stella's every minute move to see how bad it was. No matter what Danny had said, what Flack had said, she needed Stella to tell her that there was still hope, that Sienna had survived the ride and had overcome her first hurdle on the way to recovery.

"She's in surgery. That's all the doctors are saying. But the paramedics think she had internal bleeding and a collapsed lung." Stella carefully avoided Lindsay's actual question. She didn't want to lie to her friend, but Lindsay didn't need to know how many times Sienna's heart had stopped, how many times Stella had prayed that she would start breathing again. As she talked, she hurried Lindsay through the maze of corridors, leading her towards the waiting room that the nurse had left her in, assuring her that as soon as there was any news, she would know.

When they got to the waiting room, Stella urged Lindsay to sit down in one of the shabby, pale blue hospital chairs, anxious to get her off her feet. She sat down on the uncomfortable chair next to her, taking her hand and gripping it tightly, just as she'd done with Sienna in the ambulance. Lindsay looked awful, and Stella didn't want to have to hospitalise her too.

Lindsay sat impatiently on the edge of the chair, feet tapping nervously against the floor, hands wringing together in her lap as she continually sent furtive glances towards the door and the barely visible nurse' station situated next to the ominous white doors that led to the surgery. She kept chanting to herself inwardly: Sienna would be alright, she would make it through the surgery and would make a full recovery. It helped her ease her nerves a little, but not by much. Not enough to stop the quickly established routine of looking out into the hallway, waiting for the little light above the surgery doors to flick off, and for the surgeon to come out and tell her that Sienna would make it.

They'd not been sat there for even ten minutes when the sound of rushing footsteps on the linoleum floor alerted them that someone was coming. More than one someone. Lindsay's head jerked up, hoping it was the doctor, wondering how she could have missed his approach. No such luck.

"Don't you tell me to calm down! Where is my daughter?!" The voice was unmistakably Ethan's, angry and fearful all wrapped up into one. Stella and Lindsay exchanged a quick, concerned glance, and both stood to meet them.

Danny and Flack, who looked extremely harried, accompanied by Ethan and Jodie, came around the corner, Jodie's face drawn and pale, fear etched deeply into her eyes. As soon as she saw Lindsay, she turned her attention away from the nurse and turned on her.

"You were supposed to keep her safe! And now she's in _here!_ Why didn't you keep her safe?" Jodie wailed, voice starting out strong and accusatory before trailing off near the end when her emotions finally caught up with her, and she sagged in Ethan's arms, sobbing hysterically. "I can't lose her. I can't lose my daughter."

Lindsay blanched at the accusations, head bowed, and tears started flowing again from her own eyes. "I'm sorry." Her voice was barely a whisper, but everyone heard her.

"That's not good enough! You're sorry? Well, sure, an apology sure makes up for things." Ethan spat out, glaring angrily at Lindsay, who nodded silently, accepting the blame without a sound. Flack frowned and stepped to stand in front of Lindsay. Stella stood silently at his side, glaring just as ferociously back at Ethan, as Danny pulled Lindsay away from the group towards the chairs. He sat down and pulled her into his arms where she started crying heavily, hiding her face in his chest.

"Hey hey, that was uncalled for. Lindsay's not the one you should be blaming for this. She couldn't have predicted this. If you want to blame anyone, blame Turner, blame the guy who helped her. But do not blame Lindsay for trying to help her sister."

"Oh sure, protect your own. Is that how it works? She messes up and you cover for her. Disgusting." Ethan wrinkled his nose and stared condescendingly at the Detectives in front of him.

"That's enough!" Stella thundered, her calm façade cracking as she took three menacing steps towards Ethan. "How dare you? You are just as much at fault for not telling Sienna sooner. You know that Lindsay is not to blame yet you insist on finding a scapegoat for something beyond her control. Blaming her is NOT going to help Sienna." Ethan at least had the decency to look guilty. "Look, we are all worried about Sienna. But there is nothing we can do. The doctors will do their best. Until then, we have to be patient." Stella's voice was gentler now, but she still looked angry, always willing to defend her friend.

Ethan nodded curtly, not meeting her gaze and he pulled Jodie off in the opposite direction, sitting in the chairs closest to the door of the waiting room and the ones furthest away from Lindsay and Danny. Stella and Flack came over and sat down next Danny, careful not to disturb him as he comforted Lindsay.

"Montana, don't let that git get to you. This is not your fault."

"Yes it is." She sobbed back, her voice muffled from being pressed into his chest. "I should have known better, should have done something."

"No. Lindsay, we've been over this. This is NOT something that you could have prevented. Blaming yourself is not going to help Sienna. You need to be strong for her, to help her when she wakes up."

"But what if she dies?" Lindsay's voice was so quiet that Danny had to lean closer to her. The pain and fear in his voice broke his heart.

"If she's even half as stubborn as her sister, she's going to be just fine. She's not going anywhere." Lindsay managed to choke out a small laugh, but her tears didn't cease. Instead she just nodded, and leant heavily against his chest, listening intently to his heartbeats as a measure of time. The steady, repetitive beats helped her relax, and she slowly, but surely, felt her muscles uncoil and the tension in her shoulders disappeared. Instead, she was left feeling tired. Very tired. Drained. With a pounding head on top of that.

They waited for hours. Flack repeatedly returned to the coffee machine around the corner, giving him something to do so that he could get rid of his excess energy. Every time the nurse passed the waiting room, Ethan corned her and demanded to know something, anything about how his daughter's surgery was going. And every time, the nurse had nothing to report, hurrying off as soon as she got the chance, sending sympathetic glances over her shoulder everytime she saw Ethan's shoulders droop and his head fall forwards in defeat.

It was last evening when they heard the sound of approaching footsteps. No one moved; by this time, they were all used to people walking past with no information. So when the surgeon walked through the door to the waiting room, a nurse at his side and a collected but somewhat deceptively calm mask on his face, everyone sat up immediately. Danny had to nudge Lindsay awake, where she dozed off to sleep on his shoulder.

"How is she?" Ethan demanded, Jodie clutching his hand desperately, eyes fixed on the surgeon in front of her.

Casting a quick glance at the nurse, the surgeon came and sat down carefully next to Jodie, taking his other hand gently. He took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts, and the silence in the room deepened, the tension increasing as they waited impatiently for his answer.

It was a long time before he spoke.

* * *

_Mhwahahaha I'm an evil evil person. I'm not sure why I felt the need to have such a cliffhanger, and I did consider letting you all know how Sienna is, but then my evil twin took over and this was the result. Please don't hate me. I should have the next update up in the next couple of days, hopefully tomorrow, but that depends on how much of a hangover I have tomorrow XD Until then, I may have to hide under a rock to avoid being attacked for posting such an evil cliffhanger XD_

_Please review :D_


	24. Chapter 24

_Hey y'all. Hope everyone is fine and dandy. I'm sorry I took a little bit longer to update this time, but I couldn't make up my mind about where I wanted this chapter to go. Hopefully it will be to your liking :D I also think its longer than my usual chapters so does that make up for me being late updating?_

_I have to admit, I almost cried writing this, so I'm warning you in advance. Am I sad? Possibly. Am I easily emotional? Of course. Please don't hold it against me :P_

_Also, don't judge me until you get to the end :P I think the ending is worth it :)_

_**Special thanks to:**_

_**Lily Moonlight** - I definately felt the poking to update lol. I'm very well and had a very very good night out, thank you - didn't get too drunk :) And yourself? I couldn't resist the last cliffie, it was just too good an opportunity to miss. Sorry it took so long to update, but I hope you like it. I suppose it wasn't a nice way for Turner and Jack to go, but I couldn't think of another way to get them out of the picture. I think I'm just going to focus on Sienna and Lindsay now, because obviously there will still be issues between them and their family back in the States. I'm glad you liked the hospital scenes - I like to write tense scenes, but that one was difficult for me to do. Not being a parent myself meant I had to think harder to get into the mindset of one. But I had to have Stella and Flack, and Danny of course, helping Lindsay out. Ethan and Jodie's anger might be understandable but I do think they took it out on the wrong person. Anyway, I hope you like the update, and am waiting on tenterhooks for your update too - I'm still in shock about Louie lol :D_

_**afrozenheart412** - Phew, my evil twin is in hiding now and probably won't be reappearing for a while so its all good. I do agree with you about Ethan and Jodie being too harsh, they definately aren't thinking straight. Though I suppose I can't blame them XD But yay, I'm glad you liked the Danny and Lindsay moment. I can totally see him taking care of her and shooting evil glares at the people who upset her. Its a good thing too that he doesn't get as angry anymore, otherwise he might have hit Ethan :S I hope you like the update and that you've not been waiting too long :D_

_**Montana Angell** - :S I hid under the rock, so hopefully I managed to escape the rage :P I'm sorry I left the chapter like that, but it woul have been stupidly long and it wouldn't have come out when it did. I'm also sorry about the short delay getting this chapter out, but its longer than the others so hopefully that makes up for it. And I promise I didn't leave it with such a nasty cliffhanger this time...well, I don't think I did. I guess its up to you to make that judgement :P Hope you like it :D_

_**JavaJunkie4evr **- Yep, I wrote this whilst hidden under my rock (also known as my bed) lol. I really didn't want to stop with that cliffie. Well, maybe I did a little, but if I hadn't, it would have ended up being a MONSTER chapter and it wouldn't have come out when it did. I'm really glad you like the emotion in the last chapter, it was difficult to write, but hopefully the emotions in this chapter are good too. I almost made myself cry XD Oh well, I cry easily lol. Hope you like the update :D_

_**Sweet LIL loz** - I'm know, I'm evil when I want to be :P But hopefully this chapter makes up for it? I'm glad you liked Stella and Flack - I do think they would stand up for their friend, especially when its not Lindsay fault, so I had to have some good defending their friend in there. Hope you like this chapter :D_

_Disclaimer: See profile page_

* * *

"Doctor, Please. Tell me how she is." Jodie pleaded desperately with the surgeon, eyes filling with more tears as her mind instantly came up with the worst reason for silence.

The doctor sighed heavily. "Sienna is a very lucky girl. She is alive at the moment, but we have no way to know if she will remain so. The internal trauma caused by the impact was extremely severe. We lost her three times during surgery, as well as the multiple times on the ride to the hospital, so her heart is struggling to cope. We've done all we can for now, but if her heart gives out then there won't be anything we can do. If we keep resuscitating her, her heart will not be able to recover. However, we managed to repair the internal bleeding from her abdomen and fix all her broken bones. Her trachea is in poor shape, and her lung was severely damaged, so she's on a respirator to keep her breathing. The head trauma was extensive, with the serious hit to the back of the skull, which was increasing the pressure on her brain and her body shut down to cope. Sienna is currently in a medically-induced coma. We couldn't risk her waking up before her body started to heal, otherwise there would be too much damage. But we don't know if she'll ever wake up."

Jodie gasped, horrified, and burst into sobs, leaning heavily against Ethan, who had gone almost completely white, gripping the side of his chair ferociously with his one free hand.

"Even if she does wake up, she will most likely suffer amnesia, undoubtedly caused by the head trauma. If that is the case, we can't tell how long it will last for, or which memories she will repress. Most likely, she'll suffer short term memory loss, meaning she won't remember the accident or anything prior to that, but the extent to which she'll forget is unknown. I'm very sorry to have to tell you this. But Sienna has made it this far, even against the odds stacked against her, which is very rare. Your daughter is a fighter, and now she's made it over the first hurdle, things will hopefully start to get better."

Lindsay watched the doctor with wide eyes, slowly processing all the information he had given them. Sienna was ok, but she wasn't. She'd made it this far, but they didn't know if she'd make it any further. Even if she did recover, she'd probably forget everything that had happened. The accident, Nicole, the adoption…even Lindsay herself. She sucked in a large gasp at that thought.

Sienna might forget her, might forget everything that she'd been told about her family. She'd have to relearn all the information that her parents had kept from her, causing her more hurt and pain on top of the injuries she already had. That's if Ethan and Jodie decided to tell her. They might chose to keep her in the dark, blissfully unaware of who she really was, setting another time bomb for when she 'found out' again. To find out that you were adopted after 17 years was one thing. But it was another thing entirely for her to find out, forget about it through circumstances over which she had no control, and then realise that her parents would have preferred her never to know, hence keeping it from her for a second time.

Lindsay was only dimly aware of Ethan and Jodie following after the doctor, no doubt taking them to see their daughter in ICU. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts, and thankfully, Danny and her other friends left her to think in peace, allowed her to absorb and make sense of all the information she'd been given in such a short space of time.

It wouldn't be right for them, her parents, to choose to keep Sienna from the truth. And if that's what Ethan and Jodie tried to do, Lindsay would fight their decision.

It didn't escape her notice that she was more focused on Sienna's possible amnesia than the event of her actually waking up. It wasn't intentional, and she didn't mean it in a nasty way. Because Danny was right. Sienna WOULD wake up. Whether it be today, or tomorrow, or even three months next Tuesday, Sienna would make up. She was a fighter. And she was stubborn. She was a Monroe, last name or no. Fighting was in her blood.

***

Sienna felt like she was floating.

No, not floating. That wasn't the right word. She felt like she was being weighed down, muscles like lead, as if one hundred tiny weights were attached to every muscle in her body and pulling her down, trying to force her to become part of the blackness surrounding her.

And inch by inch, the darkness was winning.

She could see nothing, but instinctively knew that the expanse of darkness went on forever, never ending and never beginning, almost like a circle. There were no distinguishing points anywhere, just blackness that never changed, never altered, never moved.

Sienna had no strength to fight anymore, her body to weak to resist, and merely remained aware of her surroundings through the sheer force of will, the in-built stubbornness that insisted she didn't give in to the nothingness around her. But sheer power of will wasn't enough.

She had no doubt that she was dying, that this was the end. Death, dying, wasn't painful. It could be so easy; all she had to do was let go. The darkness around her was, in an odd, twisted way, soothing. Peaceful.

She could feel herself slipping away, slipping away from the tentative grasp of awareness she had, slipping away from herself. And she was scared. She was terrified. She didn't want to go. She didn't want to leave the world behind. She didn't want to know what came next. She didn't want to not-exist. But she couldn't fight it anymore.

It was strange how, despite being unconscious, she felt conscious. She readily controlled the thoughts flowing through her mind, and knew she wasn't dreaming. She easily recognised what was happening to her, and still had the presence of mind to be frightened. After all, she wasn't religious. What if, after all this time, she'd been wrong, that there was actually a God watching down over her? She didn't know what came next, and that fear, that panic, made her lose a couple of inches, the darkness almost overwhelming her now, swirling around her, trying to pull her down.

Strange too that she remembered everything. Lindsay, the adoption, the accident.

As a last battle of wills, knowing that she could no more prevent the inevitability of her death, she fought against the panic, against the fear, and swore to herself that when she finally succumbed to the darkness, she would be relaxed. She would be ready. She would be thinking of her family and her friends. She would not let death scare her.

She thought of her mum, who had loved her so desperately.

She thought of her father, who would have given everything he had to protect her from this.

She thought of her sisters, Miranda and Danielle, who would have to grow up without their big sister to guide them.

She thought of her friends, of Libby, Poppy, Alan, Chris and Sandi, who'd always been there for her, helped her through everyday life with a smile and a laugh.

She thought of Celia, silently forgiving her for all the heartbreak she'd put her through.

She thought of her family, her real blood family, who'd given her up to protect her. She finally understood why they'd done what they had, and she forgave them, and her parents for keeping this from her.

She thought of the American CSI's, who'd flown all the way out here to help her. She was sorry that she couldn't hang on for them, to prove that their efforts hadn't been a waste of time.

Lastly, she thought of Lindsay, her blood sister, who'd tried her best to protect her from Nicole and Jack. Sienna hoped she wasn't too badly injured, and that she would recover in a way that was impossible for Sienna.

Her only regret was that she couldn't say goodbye. That she couldn't say thank you for the love everyone had given her, the friendship, the chances. That she couldn't tell them that she loved them all in return, as much as they loved her.

As the darkness came even closer, pressing against her, Sienna felt her breathing become restricted, as if something heavy lay across her chest. Whilst death hadn't been painful before, it was now uncomfortable. I should have let go before, when death was still easy, Sienna thought to herself.

The discomfort grew, becoming more intense with each passing second - was it a second? Time felt different here, in this never ending Limbo, so Sienna couldn't be sure that any time had passed at all - and Sienna slowly felt herself suffocating, the blackness finally taking over.

Now she wanted to let go, and she tried. She'd remembered all she needed to, was content that there was nothing else she could do. She was as ready as she would ever be to die, but now that moment had arrived, she couldn't do it. She couldn't let go. Something kept her in place, alive and uncomfortable almost up to the point of pain.

Dimly she was aware that this was how she'd always imagined death. Painful, uncomfortable.

Then, just as she thought she couldn't take anymore, the scenery around her changed. Now, amongst the darkness, there were points of light, all different colours, in all different directions. To her left was a deep purple light, with ominous tinges of red streaked through it. To her right was a pale blue light, comforting and soothing, like a baby blanket. She span around, trying to get her bearings, the pressing weight against her chest disappearing.

Purple, red, blue. Now there was a vibrant green light, almost pulsing, above her head. A gorgeous shade of gold nearer her feet. A bright, hideous fuchsia pink so close she could almost touch it. Burnished orange, pale lilac, grey. So many colours, so bright and powerfully overwhelming. Sienna almost felt like she was stood in the middle of a rainbow; all she needed now was the pot of gold for luck and she'd be set.

How bizarre to have that cross your mind when teetering on the edge between life and death.

The colours began swirling together, as if watercolour paint merging with the water and mixing with the other colours on the canvas, and they began swirling faster and faster, making Sienna's head spin slightly with the strangeness of it.

Then, out of nowhere, came the voices. Calm and soothing, short and frustrated, desperate and pleading. Sienna couldn't tell if any of them were directed towards her, but, feeling convinced she wasn't going to die right that second, she strained to hear what was being said.

One voice stood out from the rest, one of the desperate and pleading. It made Sienna's heart ache to hear it, the pain in the voice breaking her heart. It was a man. And it sounded like he was crying. She listened harder, trying to work out who was talking.

_Sienna, baby, can you hear me?_

Daddy?

_Because if you can, sweetie, me and mummy need to let you know that we love you. That we're waiting for you to wake up and open those beautiful eyes._

Daddy, I want to, but I don't think that I can…

_Don't leave us baby. Don't leave. We need you here._

But its time for me to go…

_Its not your time yet sweetie. Not your time. You need to stay here, with us, with me and mummy, and Danielle and Miranda. We need you to stay with us._

I don't think I can hold on anymore Daddy. I'm so tried…

_You can do it baby. You can fight this._

I've tried so hard…but its not enough…

_You're strong enough to fight this. You can do this baby. _

I can't…

_You're my stubborn little pixie; you can do this. We're here, waiting for you. Me, mommy, your sisters. Even Lindsay. We're all praying for you to wake up. You're still in there, I know you are. _

Daddy…

_Please don't leave us Pixie. Please, I'm begging you._

The voice changed.

_He's right Sienna. Please don't leave us here without you._

Mum…

_We're so sorry that this happened to you. Maybe if we'd told you sooner, this whole mess could have been prevented and then you wouldn't be here. We only did what we thought was best sweetie._

I know you did Mum. I forgive you.

_But that's not whats important right now. Whats important is that you wake up, so we can tell you ourselves. You have to wake up sweetie. You have to. Mummy needs you._

She could hear her mother sobbing, and her heart wrenched in agony at causing her mum so much pain.

Mummy, I need you. Mummy, I'm scared. I don't want to take this step without you…

_We love you sweetie. Please don't go._

I don't want to go…I want to stay…

_Please! Please don't leave us._

The overwhelming grief and pain - and love - in their voices struck a cord deep within Sienna, and that's when everything changed. The air was pressing down on here again, but pressing her in one direction. Downwards. She felt as if she were in an elevator - her stomach was left in the air, high above her, whilst her body plummeted downwards. She was floating, falling at a tremendous speed, and she was even more scared than she was before. She could not control her descent. She couldn't slow down. It felt like she was being sucked into a vacuum, the pressure increasing, increasing to a point almost unbearable.

Just when she felt that she couldn't fall anymore, that the floor was surely close now, she felt a jolt. The falling feeling stopped, and before she could catch her breath, she was assaulted by hundreds of different sensations.

Pain. Throbbing, stabbing pain. She could feel herself lying down, with soft sheets all around her. There was something down her throat that made her want to choke, something stuck to her face that made almost made her skin crawl in distaste. Someone was holding her hand, clutching it tightly with their own, the heat of their palm reassuring and comforting. She could distinctly hear the heart monitor, and the sounds of people crying to her left.

_Am I alive?_

It felt like she was alive - in immense pain and slightly confused, but alive nonetheless. And if she was alive, then she could wake up. She could make her mum and dad feel better, get rid of their pain.

Sienna fought hard to open her eyes, desperate to see for herself that she was still alive. Eventually, her eyelids fluttered and she heard two gasps.

"Mom? Dad?"

* * *

_Hope this makes up for the nasty cliffie last time :D It was a close call, but this was the way I finally decided to take this chapter, after a LOT of umming and ahhing. There won't be many chapters left now - probably about three or four? _

_Please review :D_


	25. Chapter 25

_Okay, so I didn't get this out quite as soon as I wanted to, but before you all throws shoes at me, I just want to say that I started university last month and its all been a bit hectic. I'm having a great time, but its hard to find time to write, so in the future sporadic updates will be the norm. I'm very sorry about that :(_

_This story is nearing the end now so I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who had read and reviewed and favourited. It all means a lot to me :) I estimate there will only be an epilogue after this chapter, though if I can get enough material and such, I might fit in one more chapter before the end. I guess its up to you guys._

_Disclaimer: As before. Mistakes are all mine. Please no flames._

_**SPECIAL THANKS TOO:**_

_Beckylovex: I'm glad you like it :) Hope I've not kept you hanging too long_

_JavaJunkie4evr: It's alright lol I couldn't really kill her. That would be cruel haha. I make no promises though about the memory loss :P I'm sorry about the wait but life is a whole barrel of crazy XD Hope you enjoy ;) x_

_Sweet LIL loz: I'm glad you liked it :) I'll try my best but I can't promise anything just yet :P You'll see. I hope you like the chapter, but I'm not giving anything away ;) x_

_Montana Angell: Yay I'm not in trouble or being stalked :P I'm glad you liked the description, it was actually really hard for me to do. I would say I don't write death scenes a lot but thats a lie, but I don't really like killing my own characters that much. Giving them memory loss however is another story :P x_

_afrozenheart412: Aw, thank you, your review actually made me blush XD I'm glad you liked it though I'm sorry I made you cry :s But I'm happy that it was somewhat moving because I had a hard time trying to write it. If it paid off, thats all that matters. The colours didn't originally mean much, but as I wrote about it, they came to represent parts of herself that she would lose. Like red was equal to passion, and orange to humour, etc. It sounds weird but thats what came to mind. Hope you enjoy :Dx_

_Lily Moonlight: Phew I'm glad that the last chapter redeemed the cliffie :) I'm sorry I took so long to get this out, life is mental with university and such like. Today is actually the first time I've been able to sit down and get things blocked out. Three updates in one day ain't bad ;) I agree with you, I don't think I could have killed her off here, that would have been much too cruel, but the fact that people found it moving is great, I found it so hard to write. I'd like to think too that if I were in Sienna's position that family and friends would bring me back. But I hope you like the update, its much longer than my usual ones so hopefully that makes up for the wait. And now I'm off to catch up with your western story, I've missed it :D x_

* * *

Her voice came out as a croak, something barely resembling a whisper, but it was enough for her parents. The hand holding hers tightened, almost painfully.

Sienna's eyelids fluttered again, before opening fully and then shutting again almost immediately due to the harshness of the artificial fluorescent light. As she became more aware of her surroundings, she became more aware of the pain that was racking through her body, and she moaned quietly.

"Sienna, honey, are you alright? It's okay, Mummy and Daddy are here. You're safe."

Sienna opened her mouth to talk, or at least try to, but she couldn't get any sounds out; the tube in her throat prevented it.

"It's ok, honey, don't try to talk. The nurse will be long in a minute to take the tube out."

Almost as soon as she spoke, the door opened, and the room was swarmed with doctors and nurses, all reading and checking her charts, removing the tube, administering medication and checking how she felt. It was all too bewildering, and Sienna tried to ignore as much of it as possible, trying to remember what happened. She couldn't remember anything since being in the common room at school with Lindsay. As soon as everyone left, she turned her heard towards her mother and father, who were watching her anxiously.

"What happened?"

"You don't remember?" She saw her parents share a concerned yet meaningful glance.

"I remember being in the common room with Lindsay, doing physics homework I think, and then we went downstairs for something, but I don't know why." She could see the images of what she remembered vividly, but all of a sudden they cut off, leaving a huge gap in her memory. After that, all that came to mind was colours.

"How long was I out?" She whispered.

"Four days sweetie."

Sienna nodded, moaning against the pain. She felt her eyes drift closed again, and she didn't try to fight it. But as tired as she was, she couldn't sleep. She dozed on and off throughout the day, waking properly only when the doctor came in to check how she was doing, and then later when the nurse came back to administer more medication. Most of the time, she was aware of what was going on around her, even if she couldn't talk, and she was fairly happy to absorb her parent's conversation.

It was whilst she was dozing that Lindsay came in. Sienna heard the light footsteps echoing down the hall, and then the faint knock on the door. The scent of coffee reached her, and she instinctively inhaled.

"Hey. How's she doing?" Lindsay's voice was soft, barely audible from where Sienna was lying. It was her mother who answered.

"She's doing okay. She woke up for a little while earlier." The note of joy in Jodie's voice was obvious; Sienna had overheard her parents talking about how they were afraid she wouldn't make it, and she knew that her injuries were serious. Very serious. "We would have called you, but the doctor said not to overwhelm her."

"It's okay, don't worry about it.

It was quiet for a couple of minutes, then Ethan cleared his throat. "Erm…Look, I wanted to apologise for what I said to you before. It was rude of me, and I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, I understand. I think I would have been the same if it were my daughter."

Sienna felt sleep taking over, and although the conversation had disturbed her - her dad had been rude to Lindsay? Why? - she fell quickly into sleep.

When she woke the following morning, only Lindsay was in her room. "Mum? Dad?" She tried to sit up, but gave up when her muscles protested angrily and her head span with nausea.

"Hey, it's alright. They just went home to catch up on some sleep and get changed. They're coming back later." Sienna sank back onto the pillows in relief, and Lindsay tucked the blankets around her again, mindful of her injuries. Bits and pieces had come back to her whilst she'd slept, and she had a pressing question that needed to be answered. "Is Nicole dead?"

Lindsay nodded. "Yes. Both her and Jack Stiller died in the crash."

"So I was lucky then." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Yes. Very lucky. If they hadn't have got you out of the car when they did…even then it was touch and go for a long time."

"You didn't know if I'd wake up." Another statement.

"No. And we didn't know whether you'd remember anything about the whole incident."

"You mean you."

"Yes. Myself, the adoption, the circumstances. Nicole. Anything from the past week or so."

Sienna grinned. "Well, it's a good thing that I do remember anything." She frowned when Lindsay gave her an appraising look. Lindsay stared at her for a moment, eyes serious.

"Do you really think so? I mean, wasn't it better for you before you found out about any of this? Don't get me wrong, I think it's a good thing. I think its better for you to know everything. But was finding out worth all this?"

Sienna paused, thinking through her answer carefully. She thought about how her life had been before, where she'd been content and happy, and thought about what had happened since she'd found out about the adoption. The anger at her parents, both adoptive and biological, the entire mess with Nicole, finding out she had another family who'd been just as clueless about her existence as she had been about theirs.

Eventually she sighed. "No, I think its better this way." She spoke slowly, weighing each word as she spoke it. "I would want to know. I had a good life before I found out. I was happy with my family, with my friends, with my life. But now…I still have all that. I just have the possibility of having more on top of that. Even if I'm angry with my parents for keeping it a secret, I think its better to have found out now than find out another way in the future. Besides," She smiled. "Now I have another sister. That outweighs any of the bad."

Lindsay's eyes lit up, and she smiled in return. "Good to know."

****

When she felt stronger, Sienna asked her parents to call her friends to come and visit her. At first, Ethan and Jodie resisted, saying that she just needed to rest, but eventually gave in, seeing how bored their daughter was becoming. Sienna did not like being cooped up in bed, and the length of her recovery period frustrated her. Libby, Poppy, Alan, Chris and Sandi had all come after school one night, all bearing gifts of chocolate, flowers and girly magazines. Poppy even brought her a couple of DVDs that she wanted to see. But her friends weren't her only visitors; both of her sisters came frequently to the hospital, and even the headmistress came to apologise for not seeing who Julia and Jack were until it was too late.

One of her visitors surprised her. A week or so after she'd woken up, she'd looked up from her book to find Celia stood hesitantly in the doorway, a card and a rectangular box in her hand. Sienna had smiled hesitantly and waved her in. Lindsay had told Sienna about how Celia had helped her, and Sienna was grateful, even if they weren't on good terms anymore.

"Hi. How are you feeling?" Celia had asked, perched on the very edge of the chair fidgeting with the sleeves of her sweater.

"Better than last week that's for sure." Sienna joked. "What brings you here?" She'd asked cautiously.

Celia hesitated then took a deep breath. "I just wanted to say that I was sorry. I've done some really horrible things to you, and you didn't deserve any of it. I don't really know what happened to me, and I don't like who I've become. So I just wanted to apologise. For everything. Here," she handed over the box and the card, "These are for you. I remembered how much you liked them and I know how horrible hospital food is so…" Sienna opened the wrapping to find a box of chocolate fingers.

"Thank you."

"I was wondering, you know, when you get out, if we could, I dunno. Hang out, sometime, maybe?" Celia had continued, looking at the floor resolutely for a long time before chancing a glance at Sienna, who was watching her, head cocked to one side.

"I mean, I know it will take time. But I'd really like it if we could be friends again." She'd said shyly, blushing.

"I'd really like that." Sienna answered gently, with a friendly smile on her face. And it was true; she'd missed Celia a lot. It would never be the same as before, and they weren't the same people now, but it would be nice to have her back in her life. Sienna was certainly willing to put the effort in, and when Celia had left an hour later, they'd both been on much better terms.

****

In total, Sienna spent two weeks in the hospital recovering from the ordeal, plus the four days she was unconscious. Flack and Stella had returned to New York the week before; Mac had done everything he could to give them as long as they needed, but eventually, he had no choice but to call them back. The never-ending criminal activity hadn't diminished with their departure, and the cases were beginning to build up. Even with Adam and Hawkes, Mac just couldn't cope. Both had returned to the hospital before their flight, insisting they would keep in touch, and that they wanted Sienna to come and visit at some point. Maybe others would have considered this friendship unusual, but Sienna was truly grateful for what they had done for her. Not only that, they were her sister's friends, and as she was trying hard to build a relationship with Lindsay, it was something she was willing to do.

Danny and Lindsay had remained in England, using their stored vacation time to oversee Sienna's recovery. Although Danny was itching to get back to the States, he knew how important it was for Lindsay to be here, and he was willing to stay with her. He couldn't leave her here alone, and nor did he want to. Sienna had noticed the strength of their relationship early, and now it was even stronger than before: he would drive Lindsay to and from the hospital daily, continually offer to fetch coffee and food from the cafeteria, and he'd even sit outside the room and wait patiently for visiting hours to be over, allowing Lindsay and Sienna to get to know each other.

Unfortunately, they would only have a couple of days after Sienna left the hospital before they were due back in New York, and as Sienna was on strict instructions to rest until she was completely healed, any normal bonding activities would be out. Whilst in the hospital, and once she'd returned home, they'd simply traded stories about their lives and their families and friends. They'd set up a webcam so that Sienna could talk to Lindsay over the internet without costing her parents a bomb. They'd flicked through fashion magazines and talked about the books they liked to read. Music had continually been blasted out of the speakers in Sienna's room, merging her current taste with that of Lindsay's. The circumstances around getting to know each other could have been much better than they were, but they were doing their best.

Lindsay had spoken briefly to her parents twice since Sienna's accident, initially to let them know that the whole crisis was over, and both times she'd insisted that they didn't come over. It would just be too strenuous for Sienna, and right now, she simply needed to recover without the added stress of meeting the birth parents that had given her up 17 years prior. They'd grudgingly agreed. Other than that, Lindsay hadn't said all that much to her parents: she'd not forgiven them yet for keeping Sienna a secret, and she would need to have a proper talk with them about this whole mess as soon as she was back in the States. It wasn't exactly a conversation she wanted to conduct over the phone.

Not only that, but Lindsay needed to have a conversation with her brother and sister. She'd spoken to Peter a couple of days before, and although he was furious at their parents for lying for all these years, he was concerned about Sienna and had called to check her recovery progress. Annie was a different story. She was refusing to talk to any members of her family, Peter and Lindsay included, and had expressed no concern for Sienna or anything that had happened over the past few weeks. Whilst Lindsay could understand her anger, she didn't agree with taking it out in Sienna or her other siblings. But for now, she would have to wait for Annie to deal with it in her own time.

Eventually, the time came for Danny and Lindsay to leave. Danny had excused himself with the excuse of checking out whilst Lindsay said a tearful goodbye to Sienna. Even over the few short days they'd had to get to know each other properly, they'd become close, and Lindsay was going to miss her sister.

The ride to the airport was quiet. Flack and Stella had taken the rental car back with them when they left, so Ethan and Jodie volunteered to give Danny and Lindsay a lift to the airport so they wouldn't have to spend a extortionate amount of money on a taxi fare. Sienna had also insisted, despite everyone's pleadings, that she come along to see them off, and she sat in the back seat, propped up by large amounts of cushions, staring blankly out the window at the passing scenery.

They made good time to the airport, and had little time before they needed to be at the gate, so they made their way through the busy crowds slowly

Sienna had vehemently refused to use a wheelchair, and so used Lindsay and Jodie for support as they walked through the airport, sitting her in a plastic chair as soon as they got the chance so she didn't get too tired. Danny and Ethan walked alongside them, engaging each other in more polite conversation as they carried the luggage. They checked in, and sat around in the waiting area, waiting for their flight number to be called. Sienna had perked up a little bit when they'd arrived, and was now arguing furiously with Danny of the benefits of Mach 5 over the bat-mobile. _Yep_, Lindsay thought, _she's definitely my sister._

As she stood there, quietly observing the scene before her, she felt a tug on her arm and looked up. Jodie gently took her arm and pulled Lindsay aside, tugging her just outside of Sienna's earshot. She looked uncharacteristically solemn, an expression that had become almost ingrained since Sienna had been admitted to the hospital, with dark circles under her eyes and tight lines around her mouth. Still, she managed to smile at Lindsay when Lindsay gave her questioning look.

She slowly reached into her bag, seeming to hesitate, before pulling out what looked like a white piece of paper. She spoke carefully. "When you arrived here, I couldn't deny that I was furious that Sienna had to find out about the adoption. I was angry that you had to tell her something that would hurt her, and I was angry because you were the one who got to comfort her. I thought I should have been the one to do that, and I was upset that your coming here had disrupted out life. But I've come to realise that it was for the best. She needed to know. I like to think that one day, if this whole mess hadn't happened, that we would have told her. But I'm not sure we would have done." She took a deep breath, and finally met Lindsay's eyes. "I want you to know that I'm grateful, that we're grateful, for all you've done here. I know things didn't turn out the way we wanted, but Sienna's alive and we have you and your friends to thank for that. And I want to thank you for coming here. You could have left it up to the police over here, but you travelled a long way to help us out, and that means a lot."

"I wanted to meet her." Lindsay said softly, her eyes travelling across the room until they rested on Sienna, who was chatting with Danny. "I was angry that my parents had lied to me all these years, and I wanted to get to know her. I wanted to make up for all the years I'd missed. And I felt that I needed to protect her. That's what families do."

Jodie smiled. "And that's what you did."

Lindsay sighed. "Not well enough." Jodie just shook her head.

"You can't blame yourself for this Lindsay. If you hadn't been there, or if your friends hadn't of acted as quickly as they did, Sienna might not still be here. We owe her life to you."

"Thank you."

"No, thank you." Jodie's eyes were serious. "I know you've not had as much time as you like to spend with your sister. And I know that can't be helped. But I wanted to give you this." She handed over the piece of paper, and Lindsay's eyes filled with tears as she took in the photo. It was a picture of Lindsay and Sienna both laughing at something Sienna had pointed out in one of her magazines. If she hadn't known what had happened, Lindsay would have believed the photo was just a normal snapshot. Sienna didn't look injured, and Lindsay herself didn't look haunted. It was a normal memory that she could take with her, and she was grateful.

"I took that a couple of days ago, and you two were laughing so much that you didn't even notice the camera flash." Jodie chuckled. "It was so nice to see my daughter happy again. Nice to see her so alive. And I wanted you to remember something good from this trip, not just all the suffering."

Lindsay looked up and pulled Jodie into a quick hug. "Thank you." She whispered.

As they made their way back to the small group, Ethan having joined Danny's side of the discussion, they heard their flight being called. Sienna stopped talking abruptly and stood, using the chair as leverage, smiled disappearing and shoulders sagging as she looked up at Lindsay. Ethan, Jodie and Danny moved aside to give them some space.

Lindsay gently hugged Sienna, who looked as if she were about to cry. "You'll stay in touch right?" She asked, her voice quiet.

"Of course. And you have my email and cell number, so you have no reason not to either." Lindsay joked gently, and Sienna rolled her eyes. "They're called mobile phones over here sis."

"Fine, you have my 'mobile phone' number."

"And its not like I'll be ringing anyway, what with the time difference and the cost of calls."

Lindsay laughed and shook her head. "Fine, well you have my email. That's free. So there's no excuse."

"And you have mine?"

"Yes I do."

"Will you email me when you get home?"

"Of course I will."

"Good, 'cos I want to hear what happens when you chew the 'rents out." Sienna giggled, and this time Lindsay rolled her eyes. "What? That's gonna be a fun ride for Danny." Sienna remarked and Lindsay sighed. Her parents were picking them both up from La Guardia, and no amount of persuasion that they could get a cab would change their minds. They'd never left New York after the whole incident had started, and Lindsay was worried about how she would react to them being in such close quarters after all that had happened.

"Don't worry, I'll give you all the news." Lindsay commented dryly.

Their flight was called again, so Lindsay quickly gave Sienna one last hug, before turning and saying goodbye to Ethan and Jodie. Danny simple raised a hand to them all.

"See ya Kiddo. Ethan. Jodie."

As the passed through the gate, Lindsay only looked back once. She waved, and Sienna waved back, one arm wrapped tightly around her mother, and with her father's hand on her back. Lindsay smiled sadly as she thought about how close a family they were, and how it would have been so different if Sienna had always been a part of her life. She could see it in her head: her mother and father stood proudly behind their four children, who were all happy and smiling. She sighed. Life wasn't like that, and it never would be, so she needed to stop tormenting herself with what if's. Instead she drew comfort from the fact that she at least would have a chance to know her sister, even if she was across an ocean, and that she was happy with her life.

That's all she could ask for.

* * *

_Kay, now its up to you guys. Do you want me to go straight to the epilogue and have flashbacks of Lindsay's conversation with her parents, or do you want me to write that as a separate chapter and post a separate epilogue._

_Thanks so much for reading, hopefully the next update won't be too far away :)_

_Please review! :D_


	26. Chapter 26

The plane began to move, heading towards the runway, and Lindsay relaxed in her seat, staring out the window at the English countryside as the plane began to ascend. As much as she would miss her sister, she was glad to be going home.

Danny looked over at her, smiling in relief at Lindsay's relaxed posture. He'd been worried that when it came time to leave, Lindsay would have a much harder time getting on the plane, but aside from the obviously heartfelt conversation with her sister, she'd done fine. The past couple of weeks had been difficult for her; he knew that she was feeling conflicted about her parents and worried about Sienna's recovery. She'd gone through a phase of extreme guilt that she couldn't stop Jack in the drama studio and she was angry at her other sister for being so cold-hearted. On top of that, she was both anxious and reluctant to leave England. But she'd managed to work through most of her worries, and he was glad that she no longer blamed herself for things out of her control.

The only things he was still concerned about were Annie and Lindsay's parents. He knew how close Lindsay was to her family, which made the fact her parents lied a lot harder to accept and forgive. She would forgive them eventually, but he knew that she was still feeling hurt, and that was just made worse by the fact Annie was refusing to even acknowledge Sienna's existence. From what Lindsay had told him about Annie, she had a big heart and she was fairly easy going, so why she was being so difficult about this confused and aggravated Lindsay to no end.

However, Lindsay's parents were the first hurdle to overcome. He knew they were picking them up from the airport, and he didn't know what the atmosphere would be like. He'd offered to just catch a cab back to his apartment, to give Lindsay and her parents some time to talk, but Lindsay had given him the stink eye and told him not to even think about it.

Within a couple of hours of the plane taking off, Lindsay had fallen asleep, head resting peacefully against Danny's shoulder. Whilst not usually a man who liked public affection, he couldn't help but tighten his arm around her as he watched her sleep. He was grateful that a bump to the head was all she'd sustained in her struggle to save Sienna. Things could have been so much worse, but he knew better than most that it would be the emotional scars this visit caused that would haunt her for a long time.

Determined to put these type of thoughts to rest, he forced himself to focus on the in-flight movie. Whatever happened next, he'd be there to help Lindsay through it, whether that meant shielding her from her parents or comforting her from nightmares. More aware than ever of the fragility of human life, he wasn't going to let any more moments slip away from him, and that meant when she was ready and had dealt with all her demons, he was going to ask her a very important question.

The silence in the car was deafening. Sarah tried a couple of times to start a conversation, but Lindsay's responses were half-hearted, or just non-existent. Somehow, the trademark discussion of the weather didn't cut it this time, and Lindsay preferred to sit in silence, musing internally as to how best she could vocalise her thoughts. Danny sat uncomfortably next to her, ever wary of Lindsay's father, who'd eyed their joined hands when they got off the plane - Lindsay had a death grip on his fingers - and scowled slightly, his fatherly instincts rising to the surface even amidst everything else.

What should have been a fairly short journey from the airport felt never-ending.

They'd almost reached Lindsay's apartment when Sarah dared to ask what she'd been dying to ask since they got in the car. "How's Sienna?" Although her voice was meek, the curiosity and concern shone through, and Lindsay softened slightly.

"She's doing better. She should be back to normal in the next couple of weeks." Sarah nodded, before briefly shooting a glance at her husband and spinning around in her seat.

"Lindsay, we…"

"Mom, its okay." Lindsay interrupted gently. "I'm not mad. I know you did what you thought was best."

"But we should have told you."

"Yes, you should have. But that doesn't matter anymore. Sienna is okay, and she wants to get to know us. That's all that matters right now."

Sarah sighed. "I wish your other sister was slightly more accommodating."

Lindsay simply shrugged. When she got a chance, she was going to have a proper talk with Annie about this whole mess and make her see that it wasn't the disaster she believed it was. "She'll come around." She said, not truly believing her words but saying them anyway in hopes that if she said it enough times, it would become true.

After a few more beats of uncomfortable silence, Lindsay spoke again. "Mom, Dad. I know I said that I'm not angry with you, and I'm not. But I think that you should both go home." When Sarah tried to speak, Lindsay just cut her off. "After all that's happened, I need some time to think. We all have to deal with the consequences of your lie, and right now, I think that it's better to do that separately. Things have changed, and whilst I accept that, I'm going to need some time to adjust. And so do you." She let her parents digest what she'd said, staring out the window at all the buildings rushing past. As beautiful as England was, it couldn't compare to the feel of New York City, and she was glad to finally be home.

Eventually, Ethan spoke. "You're right. Your mother and I will catch a flight out as soon as we can." He pulled up outside Lindsay's building, turning off the ignition as he spun around in his seat to face his daughter. He could see himself in her features, and as he once again acknowledged what he'd given up all those years earlier, he regretted not being there as Sienna grew up. Most of all, he regretted depriving his other children of their sister for all these years, not even giving them a chance to know her from a distance. They'd never had the choice, and because of that, he'd taken something from them all, Sienna included, that he could never replace. "Just know that we love you Lindsay, and that we never meant to hurt you. Or your brother and sisters."

Lindsay had seen the look of regret cross her father's features, and she felt a stab of sympathy. Although her parent's had been wrong in doing what they did, they'd honestly believed it was the best option. She had to believe that. But she also had to try and come to terms with what she'd missed out on, and so she simply nodded at her father before climbing out of the car. She remained silent until she was upstairs in her apartment, though she'd waved her parents off as they left for their hotel. Danny had followed her quietly, knowing that she would speak when she was ready.

Almost immediately, Lindsay flopped onto the couch, relaxing against the cushions and rubbing the bridge of her nose with one hand. That was a habit she'd picked up from her mother to help deal with stress. "Well, that wasn't quite the holiday I had in mind."

Danny sat down next to her, and she leant into him. He kissed her on the top of her head before speaking. "No, but at least it was a change of scenery from the lab."

"True. But it will be nice to get back to normal. I need to thank everyone for their help, we couldn't have saved Sienna without them."

He smiled down at her. "I'm sure they know. They'd all do anything for you Linds, you know that."

"I do indeed. But for now, all I want to do is curl up on the couch with my boyfriend, a trashy movie and crappy takeaway food." She waggled her eyebrows at him, and he laughed deeply as he got up off the couch, heading for the kitchen. "I call Chinese," he called from the other room, and Lindsay rolled her eyes. "Fine, but I get to choose the movie" She countered, already knowing which movie she wanted. Danny would hate it, and would moan the whole way through, but she wouldn't have it any other way. She closed her eyes and sighed happily. It was good to be home.


End file.
